Texas' SB 8 Is A Full-Scale Assault On Patients, Healthcare Providers, and Support Systems
For Immediate Release: Sept. 1, 2021 (Updated: Sept. 1, 2021, 6 a.m.)
Today, the Texas state legislature will enact one of the most dangerous abortion bans in recent history, Senate Bill (SB) 8. This law bans abortions in the state as early as six weeks in pregnancy – before most people even know they are pregnant -- and includes a provision that allows private individuals to file lawsuits to enforce the ban. Under SB 8, anyone, including anti-abortion extremists, can act as bounty hunters and take doctors, health centers, and anyone who helps — or intends to help — another person access abortion to court. This is a full-scale assault on patients, their health care providers, and their support systems.
Our movement is facing the gravest threat to abortion access in decades, with serious implications to communities nationwide. While we are hopeful that the current lawsuit, filed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America and partners across the US, will successfully block the law from taking effect, we are not naïve to ignore the reality that SB 8 could be a blueprint for bans across the country. This won’t stop in Texas.
Unless blocked by the US Supreme Court, this unconstitutional law will deny abortion access to far too many Texans, with disproportionate impacts on Indigenous, Black, and Latino/a/x communities. SB 8 will isolate people seeking abortion — targeting their entire support network and discouraging their loved ones from helping them for fear of being sued. It will make abortion everyone’s business but the patient’s.
Let’s be clear: we will not back down. At Planned Parenthood Keystone, we will continue to do everything we can to provide and protect access to abortion and other reproductive health care — no matter what. Every person should be able to make their own decisions about their health and their bodies, including accessing abortion care. Your abortion is your business — no one else’s. Our affiliate joins Planned Parenthood organizations and partners across the US to stand in solidarity with Texas. We will continue fighting to ensure patients have access to abortion — in Texas and across the country.