Advocacy Work for Reproductive Justice persists in a Post-Roe Environment

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June will mark a year since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Since the decision, 12 states enacted a near-total ban on abortions along with other states that enacted severe restrictions on abortion access. Since the overturn, nonprofit organizations in Texas have been carefully navigating the legal landscape while they continue to help Texans access resources for reproductive health care.

Reproductive rights advocacy organizations like “Fund Texas Choice” were uncertain how the overturn would affect their mission. The non-profit organization helps Texans fund transportation expenses and coordinate accommodations to access an abortion clinic along with childcare reimbursements. 

Jaylynn Farr Munson, 31, development and communications manager for the organization, described the reaction of her team when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. 

“We were definitely devastated along with the rest of the country; we were not surprised, and our programs team worked extra hours. I really can't express enough just how much of an upheaval losing the protections of Roe was and will continue to be for anybody that's involved in reproductive justice and access,” said Munson.

In Texas, 40% of the population is Latinx. In 2021, there was a total of 52,495 abortions in Texas. Hispanic individuals made up a total of 18,774 of induced termination of pregnancy in that same year. One study, tracked out-of-state travel among Texas residents when an executive order suspended abortion services during the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the order, 38% of Texans traveled for out-of-state abortions, while during the order it increased to 81%. Additionally, Texans in economically disadvantaged counties accounted for 52% of those who traveled out of state for abortions before the order went into effect. During the period of the executive order, they constituted 12% for out-of-state abortions. The majority is made up of 68% of Texas residents who resided in counties with high incomes.

Isabel Zepeda, 36, is the co-founder and reproductive justice coordinator of “Sueños Sin Fronteras,” a collective of women of color based in San Antonio, Texas. The nonprofit works with a reproductive justice lens to focus on building positive health and healing outcomes for undocumented immigrants and pregnant people in San Antonio by providing peer support, advocacy, and community resources. 

“Before the overturn, there was already state policies that were shutting down clinics. So, we were already seeing what could happen in a mass level. We were already experiencing it,” said Zepeda. “The only clinic that was accessible near the border is now shut down, so all those undocumented people who are on the border behind the checkpoint can’t even access that.”

A study from The University of California of San Francisco program “Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health” (ANSIRH) looked at the financial hardship women face when they’re seeking an abortion. According to the 2018 report, “half had incomes below the federal poverty level and three-quarters reported not having enough money to pay for basic living expenses.” Additionally, after a denied abortion, women are three times likely to be unemployed than women who could access an abortion.

Laura Molinar, 31, is the co-founder and co-director of “Sueños Sin Fronteras.” 

“A lack of economic opportunities, especially for undocumented women, spills over to them not being able to access flexible employment, access to childcare, access to fair wages, and equitable working conditions that in turn affects their ability to pay rent and purchase groceries for their families,” said Molinar. “The policies in Texas when it comes to public benefits are so restrictive for undocumented immigrants. An undocumented immigrant woman can only receive health care if she's pregnant, and that healthcare is essentially only for her baby because it ends as soon as she gives birth.”

In September 2021, Texas enacted a law prohibiting abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The state’s decision prompted a study to compare the daily requests from an online non-profit service, Aid Access, that provides medical abortion pills. The study found a daily increase in applications starting at 10 requests before the law was enacted to an average of 137 requests within the first week after the law went into effect.

Currently, The Northern District Of Texas Amarillo Division are considering banning the abortion pill and Texas federal judge is postponing the FDA approval of mifepristone, an abortion pill. By comparison, in March, The California Legislative Women’s Caucus and the California Future of Abortion Council introduced a package with 17 pieces of legislation expanding access to reproductive healthcare and gender affirming care in California including providing legal protections for California doctors who mail abortion pills to other states. 

The Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade has seen a stark contrast between abortion sanctuary states like California and states with a near-total ban. 

“The overall goal and what we are all in this movement fighting for is for abortion to be seen as healthcare and treated as a standard reproductive medical procedure, just like any other medical procedure that a person might choose to undergo or might be medically recommended by their physician. Taking that away is fundamentally immoral, and we are trying to shift society's perception of abortion so that more people understand why it is an option for one in four people that can get pregnant at any given time,” said Munson.