Center for Reproductive Rights

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Friend,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you, a fellow ally in the fight to
defend reproductive rights and abortion access for all. My name is Dr.
Alan Braid, and for nearly 50 years, I have been a practicing OB/GYN
in Texas.

I have cared for countless patients over the years, delivering more
than 10,000 babies, and providing abortion care at clinics I own in
Houston, San Antonio, and Tulsa. Then, on September 1, 2021,
everything changed.

When Texas's abortion ban, S.B. 8, went into effect, it halted most
abortion services in clinics across the state, including mine. The law
bans nearly all abortion care beyond about the sixth week of
pregnancy. I believe abortion is an integral part of women's health
care. I believed it in the early 1970s before Roe v. Wade and I
believe that today. But because of this ban, I've had to turn away
scores of patients, including a 41-year-old mother of four who
couldn't leave her children or her job to go out of state to access
abortion services.

What is so insidious and cruel about this abortion ban is that anyone
can sue someone who helps a person obtain an abortion past six weeks,
including a physician, a relative, a friend, a significant other,
faith leaders, or the driver who brings a patient to my clinic.

For me, when S.B. 8 took effect, it was like it was 1972 again. And
that is why, on the morning of September 6, I provided an abortion to
a woman who, though still in her first trimester, was beyond the
state's new limit. I acted because I had a duty of care to this
patient, as I do for all patients, and because she has a fundamental
right to receive this care.

I have spent decades treating and helping patients. I couldn't just
sit back and watch us return to the days before Roe v. Wade.
Represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, my clinics are
among the plaintiffs in an ongoing federal lawsuit to stop S.B. 8.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the
Center's case challenging this outrageous ban. Now, we await the
Court's decision.

As we continue fighting this unconscionable law, I am grateful for my
staff and clinic workers across the state who continue to show up for
patients who need our help. I am grateful to the Center for their
unwavering partnership and unparalleled expertise.

And I am grateful for you, as an ally in this fight and for your
support of the Center so they can continue to defend reproductive
rights as human rights-not just in Texas, but around the world.

Thank you,

Dr. Alan Braid

Owner of Alamo Women's Reproductive Services, Houston Women's
Reproductive Services, and Tulsa Women's Reproductive Clinic

P.S. If you'd like to do even more to support independent abortion
clinics this season, please consider making a gift to the Abortion
Care Network, a national association for community-based abortion care
providers and their allies.
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reproductiverights.org
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The Center for Reproductive Rights uses the power of law to advance

reproductive rights as fundamental human rights around the world.

© Center for Reproductive Rights

Center for Reproductive Rights
199 Water St.
New York, NY 10038
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