Stories from places with similar bans paint a dark picture
Dear John,
Abortion is not a crime. We’ve been saying this for decades, and we’ll keep saying it. But since Texas effectively banned abortion yesterday, I’ve started shouting it!

Texas Senate Bill 8 is the most draconian anti-abortion law in the United States and, as you’ve likely heard, essentially bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy—thereby reducing Roe v Wade to a ruling without meaning or consequence. A constitutional right has been stripped from the people of Texas by misogynists and extremists, and the U.S. Supreme Court chose not to intervene.

By enacting this radical law, Texas joins El Salvador, Nicaragua and a few other countries that ban abortion altogether—even in cases of rape or incest. Is this really what Texas lawmakers think the people of Texas want?

At Ipas, we’ve long seen the extreme harm to people and health providers in places where abortion is banned outright or highly restricted:
* In Nicaragua in 2010, doctors had to refuse chemotherapy for a pregnant woman with aggressive cancer because anything that could harm a fetus, even lifesaving medical treatments for the pregnant person, are banned and could land health providers in jail.

* In El Salvador, one woman’s case drew international attention: She suffered a miscarriage after a fall and was sentenced to 30 years in prison because hospital staff believed she had intentionally tried to induce an abortion.

* In Brazil in 2007, police raided a private family planning clinic and confiscated female patients’ records. Four clinic staff members were then prosecuted for participating in abortions and were sentenced to prison for 4-7 years.

Do we Americans want to see such injustices here?

Ipas stands with the advocates, activists, abortion providers and others in Texas who have dedicated their lives to helping people access abortion care. Most of all, we express our solidarity with the people who will now be denied access to an essential health service. In the face of this near-total abortion ban and a deluge of other anti-abortion measures at home and abroad, Ipas will continue to work with partners around the world to fight for the right to bodily autonomy and abortion access.

While our primary focus is outside the U.S., we work to connect advocates and strategies here and abroad—because the fight against ideology that seeks to deny the human right to health care and to decide one’s own reproductive future is both global and local.

In solidarity,
Anu Kumar
Ipas President and CEO


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