NIRH Condemns Texas Abortion Ban

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2021
Contact: Kelly Novak, [email protected]

Statement from NIRH President Andrea Miller

“On September 1, a radical new abortion ban went into effect in Texas, halting almost all abortion care in the state. The new law, S.B. 8, insidiously incentivizes individuals to sue anyone who helps someone get an abortion after six weeks in Texas. In an appalling forfeiture of its constitutional obligations, the U.S. Supreme Court failed to take emergency action to block the law, turning a blind eye to the devastation this ban will cause and further eroding the legal foundation upon which abortion access rests. 

We cannot overstate the catastrophic impact of banning abortion in a state of 29 million people. Of course, the burden of this ban will fall disproportionately on Texans who are the Black, Latinx, low-income, undocumented, young, and those who live in rural communities, who already faced incredible barriers in accessing care. 

This ban represents a crisis in health care, human rights, and every person’s ability to control their bodies, lives, and futures. The Texas law is unique and extreme — and it’s part of a national agenda to end access to abortion in this country. Elected officials in several states that have already tried to severely curtail access have signaled their intention to follow Texas’s lead. Rest assured, others will follow.

We call on elected leaders at every level of government to come forward to meet this challenge. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect equitable access to abortion care right now.

NIRH will continue to support the abortion providers, advocates, and abortion funds finding every way possible to provide abortion access to those who need it. We will never give up on those who are seeking abortion care in Texas and beyond.”

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The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) is an advocacy group that works directly with state and local reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations and allied groups to protect and advance access to reproductive healthcare. For more than 40 years, NIRH has been partnering with communities to build coalitions, launch campaigns, and successfully advocate for policy change. NIRH’s strategy is to go on the offensive and focus on communities where change is needed, so the fabric of reproductive freedom becomes harder to tear apart.