Pro-choice Texas activists still fighting for abortion access in wake of new law

Texas activists turn their focus to supporting medical care providers and electing pro-choice representative in the 2022 midterm election after controversial legislation. Art by KAITA PANNOR, Illustrator

After Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the state’s latest abortion law Sept. 1, many pro-choice activists called for a boycott of the state. The law has become known as the “abortion ban” due to its heavy restrictions — the medical procedure becomes illegal after six weeks, with no exceptions even in cases of rape or incest. 

In Oregon, Portland City Council plans to vote whether to ban city employees from traveling to Texas or purchasing goods made there. Andrea Reyes, the director of Deeds Not Words — an organization which works to improve gender equality in Texas — feels that a boycott of the state would be unhelpful. 

“(A boycott would) negatively impact those in the service and tourism industries, most of whom are Texans of color, undocumented Texans and low income Texans, most of whom do not support the six-week ban,” Reyes told The Panther. 

Reyes pointed out the new Texas abortion law disproportionately affects communities that are already vulnerable, including people of color, minors, undocumented individuals and survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Dr. Diana Greene Foster’s “Turnaway Study” found that people who are denied access to abortion are 4 times more likely to live in poverty. 

“What we need right now is solidarity and empathy,” Reyes said. 

Instead of refusing to travel or buy goods from Texas, Reyes supports donating to Texas organizations like the Deeds Action Fund — the political arm of Deeds Not Words — which is working to protect doctors, providers and nurses from private lawsuits that may arise under the new legislation. 

This new abortion law includes a $10,000 bounty for anyone who reports violators of the law, putting healthcare providers who offer such services in danger of lawsuits. Many have expressed concerns that this bounty could also lead to increased censorship on social media, because people may become afraid that sharing pro-choice stances online could put a target on their backs.

“By providing financial incentives to anti-abortion activists to sue as many defendants as possible, the law puts everyone in Texas talking about abortions at significant legal risk,” Eric Goldman, a law professor at Santa Clara University Law School and co-director of the university's High Tech Law Institute, told USA Today. 

Tosca Johnson, a junior screenwriting major at Chapman University, believes this is the latest in many attempts Texas officials have made to censor young people online. 

“We’ve known for a while that conservative lawmakers aren’t a big fan of young Texans using their platforms to mobilize change… but this is another level of petty censorship,” Johnson said. “As many of those lawmakers love to tout — we live in a free country, and free speech is an integral part of our democracy. Posting about pro-choice stances isn’t harmful nor illegal. At this point, social media feels like one of the only ways we can be proactive.” 

In response to the abortion law and Abbott’s passing of restrictive voting rights bill, Beto O'Rourke, the former representative for Texas’ 16th congressional district, urged Texans not to despair, but to take action. 

“We need to channel our anger into action and take power back in 2022,” O'Rourke said in a video posted to Twitter. 

The Election Law Journal currently ranks Texas 50th in ease of voting. O’Rourke says he is committed to improving voter turnout in Texas. In 2019, he started Powered By People, an organization that works to register voters and elect progressive candidates. 

Rocio Avila, an activist and an ambassador for Powered By People, said the passing of the abortion ban and new voter restriction bill have inspired her to take action more than ever. 

“I don’t like to dwell on sorrows for too long,” Avila said. “I would rather be proactive than reactive.”

Geri Merrick, another ambassador for Powered By People, was so appalled by the abortion law she traveled nearly three hours to Abilene, Texas in order to register voters. 

“We need leaders that will fight for women and their healthcare needs,” Merrick said. “The only way to do that is to elect those that will. Gotta push the truth and get people to go vote in 2022.” 

Abbott responded to criticism that the ban allows for no exceptions even in cases of rape or incest, stating that he will work to “eliminate” rapists. 

“Rape is a crime, and Texas will work tirelessly to make sure we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out, arresting them, prosecuting them and getting them off the streets,” Abbott told NPR Sept. 7. “So, goal number one in the state of Texas is to eliminate rape so that no woman — no person — will be a victim of rape.” 

On behalf of The Satanic Temple (TST), “Ann Doe” has filed a lawsuit against the state of Texas in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Houston. The lawsuit states that “certain state-mandated abortion restrictions violate TST members’ religious beliefs.” The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) also announced a lawsuit against Texas, calling the ban “unconstitutional.” 

"That act is unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent," Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters at a press conference at the DOJ. "Those precedents hold, in the words of Planned Parenthood versus Casey, that 'regardless of whether exceptions are made for particular circumstances, a state may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability.'"

Back in June, Gov. Abbott assigned a bill that would outlaw all abortions if Roe V. Wade is overturned. The night before the ban went into effect, the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) conducted a poll of Texas voters. The poll found the Governor's approval had dropped to the lowest since he took office in 2015, with fifty percent disapproving. A poll by UT Austin and The Texas Tribune found that a majority of Texans oppose banning all abortions. 

Progressive activists in Texas remain optimistic that backlash over the abortion ban could lead to electing pro-choice candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.