Texas Abortion Ban: What to Know and How to Help

On August 31, as abortion providers in Fort Worth, Texas worked feverishly to care for patients in the final hours before a near-total abortion ban took place, anti-abortion protesters illuminated bright lights outside the clinic to let the doctors inside know they were watching. On September 1, after the ban was in place, the Supreme Court too worked late into the night. But they worked under the cover of darkness.

In a 5-4 decision made just before midnight on September 1, the Supreme Court refused to block the Texas abortion ban that took effect earlier that day, allowing the country's most restrictive abortion laws to continue. The law prohibits nearly all abortion in the state by banning it after about six weeks of pregnancy, before most people know they are pregnant. According to abortion advocates, 85-90% of abortions in Texas occur when the patient is at least six weeks pregnant. 

Justice Sonia Sotomayor condemned the Texas law in a fiery dissent, calling out the pernicious way the ban circumvents usual legal routes, “enlisting private citizens to do what the State could not.” Instead of relying on government officials to enforce it, the Texas abortion ban, called Senate Bill 8, gives enforcement power to private citizens, calling on them to file lawsuits against anyone they suspect of providing an abortion or  who “aids and abets” someone who gets one.

“Presented with an application to enjoin a flagrantly unconstitutional law engineered to prohibit women from exercising their constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny, a majority of justices have opted to bury their heads in the sand," Sotomayor wrote. “Last night, the Court silently acquiesced in a State’s enactment of a law that flouts nearly 50 years of federal precedents. Today, the Court belatedly explains that it declined to grant relief because of procedural complexities of the State’s own invention.”

But, it's important to remember that abortion is still legal in all 50 states, and, as Sotomayor wrote, remains a constitutional right. This is where things get tricky. The Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade secured abortion as a constitutional right, and made it unconstitutional for states to ban abortion entirely. Ever since, states have been finding new ways essentially ban abortion without actually doing so by deploying restrictions on things like how far along someone is in their pregnancy, the hoops they have to jump through to get an abortion, and how providers can and can't offer abortion care. Basically, some states have done everything in their power to make it extremely hard to access abortion. 

Many of these restrictions — including all previous attempts at a six-week ban like the one in Texas — have been blocked by courts because they were found to restrict abortion so far that it violated Roe v. Wade and made it essentially inaccessible. While the law in Texas will, as Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, “[equate] to a near-categorical ban on abortions,” the way the bill was written to give private citizens enforcement power makes it harder for federal courts to intervene. Instead of stepping in, Sotomayor wrote, “the Court finally tells the Nation that it declined to act because, in short, the State’s gambit worked.” The legislation, she continued, to “a breathtaking act of defiance—of the Constitution, of this Court’s precedents, and of the rights of women seeking abortions throughout Texas.”

So, with a near-total ban on abortions effective in Texas and no help from the Supreme Court, what is there left to do? Well, plenty. Again, abortion is still technically legal in all 50 states, including Texas as long as it happens before six weeks of pregnancy. Clinics across Texas are still open and providing abortion in compliance with the restrictions of SB8. And, while paying for or bringing someone to get an abortion after six weeks in Texas might be seen as “aiding and abetting,” the law may not prohibit people in Texas for paying for or transporting someone to an abortion outside state lines, where the abortion would be legal, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights Marc Hearron told reporters on September 1.

That's why abortion clinics, funds, and advocacy groups still need support. If you're looking to donate some time or money to help people seeking abortion in Texas, here are a few organizations to check out.

The Lilith Fund

The Lilith Fund provides financial assistance and emotional support for Texans seeking abortion. In 2020, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott temporarily banned abortion because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lilith Fund still managed to help 1,300 people find safe and legal abortions, dispersing $452,882 to those people to help fund their abortions. 

To help them continue their work, you can donate here. You can also sign up to volunteer with the organization in a number of ways, including manning their hotline, helping with research, and more.

Jane's Due Process

Jane's Due Process is an organization that helps Texas teens access birth control and abortion as they navigate the state's strict laws around parental consent. They provide legal support for teens seeking a judicial bypass to get an abortion, advocate for young people's reproductive rights, and more.

To sign up to volunteer with Jane's Due Process, head here. If you're a lawyer, read more about joining the organization's attorney referral network here. To donate to support their work, head here.

Texas Equal Access Fund

The Texas Equal Access (TEA) Fund helps low-income people in the northern part of Texas pay for abortion care. Because abortion restrictions most impact low-income people and people of color, that's who the TEA Fund focuses most on serving. Currently, the organization is holding a fundraiser as part of North Texas Giving Day, which you can find here. You can also donate here. 

In addition to donations, you can sign up to volunteer here. Right now, the fund's website says it is looking for volunteer on their text hotline.

Whole Woman's Health Alliance

A plaintiff in the the lawsuit to block SB8, Whole Woman's Health Alliance is a reproductive healthcare clinic and advocacy organization that operates in a handful of states, including Texas. On August 31, doctors at the Fort Worth clinic stayed until nearly midnight, treating patients who flocked to the clinic to get an abortion before the clock ran out.

Find their donation page here.

West Fund

Operating out of El Paso, where abortion access is extremely limited, West Fund aims to help make abortion more accessible. You can donate here, and learn more here.

Frontera Fund

While the Frontera Fund is temporarily closed in an effort to reorganize as they comply with SB8, the abortion fund is still accepting donations for the work it plans to do in the future. This organization helps people in the Rio Grande Valley pay for and access abortions. In a far part of Texas that's nine or more hours away from neighboring states, the Frontera Fund noted on Twitter, traveling out of state for an abortion simply isn't an option for many of the people they help.

To donate, head here.

RAICES Texas

RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, is ready to engage in civil disobedience. Unlike other organizations, RAICES Texas has vowed to disobey SB8, continuing to help immigrants pay for abortion whether or not they are more than six weeks pregnant. 

“For immigrants, access to health care is already limited by financial, cultural and legal barriers like the Public Charge Rule, which allows the government to count enrollment in public benefits, like health care assistance, against a person’s green card application. SB 8 will worsen immigrants’ fear of seeking medical care, and makes a life-saving medical procedure illegal,” the organization wrote in a statement on their website. “RAICES assisted and gave financial support to immigrants seeking abortion in Texas for years, and will continue to do so — no matter what.”

You can donate to RAICES here.

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Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: What the Texas Abortion Ban Means For People Seeking an Abortion