Access to Abortion
Every Texan should have access to safe, legal abortion care — no matter their income, zip code, or immigration status. But extremist politicians at every level of government have pushed through laws that make it harder — and more dangerous — for Texans to get the healthcare they need.
Texans are currently living under a total abortion ban. Under the state’s trigger law, providing an abortion is a felony — with no exceptions for rape, incest, or even fatal fetal anomalies. Every Republican in the Texas House and Senate voted for this law, which was signed by Governor Greg Abbott in 2021, before the fall of Roe v. Wade. It took effect after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
On top of that, Texas’s SB 8 — the so-called “abortion bounty” law — adds another layer of fear and surveillance. It places a $10,000 bounty on anyone who helps someone access abortion care in Texas — including doctors, nurses, abortion funds, and even family and friends.
This law is part of a broader strategy to use civil enforcement as a tool of control. In recent legislative sessions, anti-abortion lawmakers have tried to expand these tactics — attempting to ban abortion-related travel and criminalize the networks that support Texans seeking out-of-state care.
Need care now? A person seeking an abortion is not criminalized under any Texas law, either before or after the Dobbs decision, but those who assist people with obtaining abortions in Texas may be subjected to criminal and civil penalties now if their conduct is prohibited under the Texas Penal Code or SB8.
Visit INeedAnA.org or NeedAbortion.org for help accessing care.
An Avoidable Public Health Crisis
Texas has long failed to provide basic healthcare — especially to people of color, rural residents, and low-income communities. The abortion ban has only made things worse.
We are already seeing the consequences: horror stories of people denied life-saving care, forced to carry doomed pregnancies, and experiencing infections, hemorrhaging, sepsis — even death. Doctors are leaving the state because the law makes it a crime to care for their patients.
Since SB 8 went into effect in 2021:
- Maternal deaths in Texas have increased by 56%
- Sepsis rates have risen by 50%
- Infant mortality has gone up by 13%
These aren’t just statistics. These are our families, our neighbors, our communities. Instead of addressing this crisis, Texas lawmakers are doubling down — criminalizing abortion care and those who provide or support it.
A Long History of Attacks on Abortion Access
Texas’s abortion bans didn’t happen overnight. Anti-abortion extremists have spent decades chipping away at access, passing law after law to make abortion harder to get and more expensive to provide.
To truly protect the right to abortion, we must go beyond legality. We need full, unrestricted access — and that means repealing every barrier that puts abortion care out of reach.
Because the right to abortion means nothing if you can’t actually get one.
Barriers to Abortion Care in Texas
Texas Trigger Ban: The Texas trigger ban was implemented after the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. There are no exceptions for rape, incest, or fetal anomaly. Providers face life in prison and fines of at least $100,000 per violation.
But the barriers to abortion access didn’t start — or stop — with the ban. Texas has spent decades building a web of laws, restrictions, and surveillance tactics designed to shame, isolate, and punish people who seek abortion care. And now, those same tactics are being exported to other states.
SB 8 6-week ban: SB 8 not only bans abortion before many people know they’re pregnant — it also allows any person, anywhere, to sue providers, abortion funds, and family members for any perceived violation of the ban. SB 8 has essentially shut down access to abortion in Texas.
Finding a provider: Before Dobbs, anti-abortion lawmakers passed law after law designed to shut down clinics and push providers out of practice. Nearly half of all clinics in the state closed between 2013 and 2022, and now, no legal abortion providers remain in Texas. Even traveling out of state isn’t simple. Texans often face long wait times, unfamiliar legal environments, and the constant fear of criminalization.
Paying for abortion care: The cost of an abortion starts at $450 — and most Texans have to pay out of pocket. Texas law limits private insurance from covering abortion care unless you buy a separate waiver policy. Policies like the Hyde amendment also deny coverage for abortion to people who get insurance through Medicaid and Tricare.
Waiting periods: Before Dobbs, Texas enforced a mandatory 24-hour waiting period and forced people to make multiple appointments, even when medically unnecessary. These delays pushed care later in pregnancy — or made it impossible to get at all. Now, anti-abortion politicians are trying to use these same tactics — waiting periods, licensing rules, surveillance of travel and communication — to delay or block abortion access in other states too.
Medical interference: Texas law has long required that patients receive biased, state-mandated counseling filled with misinformation. It also mandates sonograms, often via invasive transvaginal ultrasound, even when not medically necessary.
Procedure bans: Instead of patients and doctors determining the best care for an individual, Texas legislators used junk science to ban safe and effective abortion procedures that other states allow.
Telemedicine and medication abortion: Medication abortion is safe, effective, and used in more than half of all abortions nationwide. But Texas banned it by telehealth, limited its use to the earliest weeks of pregnancy, and required unnecessary in-person visits.
