BY MICHELLE SIMPSON TUEGEL | The most restrictive abortion ban in the country, Texas’s S.B. 8, has already had a devastating effect on women’s rights in the state. While the legal fight continues to stop this retrograde legislation, the impacts on women seeking reproductive health care have been obvious and most alarming. However, the devastation has not been limited to this vulnerable community.
As a women’s rights attorney actively fighting against S.B. 8, a potential long-term effect of this law is its aim to silence and restrict advocates like myself until we can no longer do the vital work of helping sexual abuse survivors. Because I have made it clear that I will help women access healthcare resources regardless of the law, numerous women have reached out to me in desperate need of an abortion. Their stories, circumstances and reasons varied, but they all shared a fear that Texas law meant they could be held criminally liable for even seeking information on abortion services. I would tell every woman in Texas what I have told the women I’ve spoken with: No Texas law, including S.B. 8, has that power. Individuals cannot be criminally prosecuted for seeking an abortion in Texas.
Where S.B. 8’s power lies are in its lesser-known provisions that attempt to take the legs out from under the system that provides healthcare to women, undermine advocates’ work and cut off access to resources.
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