The “Aid and Abet” Abortion Era Begins

Bans Off Our Bodies protest at the Capitol on May 14, 2022 (Photo by John Anderson)

Most Texans have been deprived their reproductive rights since at least September 2021, when Senate Bill 8 took effect and allowed vigilante civil lawsuits against anyone who provides or aids an abortion after six weeks' gestation. The Supreme Court's reversal in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling of the Roe v. Wade precedent, which had since 1973 guaranteed a federal constitutional right to seek or provide abortion care, set the stage for a strange set of new laws in Texas. On August 25, performing an abortion became a felony, punishable by life in prison, except in the rare case of a life-threatening emergency – and even then, doctors have reported that the state law is so unclear, they're not sure how close to the brink of death a pregnant person needs to get before an abortion can be considered legal.

Abortion clinics, including Austin-based Whole Woman's Health, have closed up shop, and the abortion funds helping Texans travel out of state for abortion care have their hands tied. They say they've been forced to tiptoe around even providing information on abortion access, lest they be prosecuted for "aiding and abetting" a procedure. A lawsuit over the chilling effect this has on free speech and the right to interstate travel is currently in federal court; U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will need to testify in that case, because of his not-quite-veiled threats against abortion funds. While Pitman deals with that, the incoming 88th Texas Legislature is already wrangling over exceptions to the ban and the ability to travel for an abortion. Bills filed by Democrats would create exceptions in the case of rape, lethal fetal anomalies, and to preserve a patient's health; meanwhile, a Republican bill would block municipalities from helping people pay for out-of-state abortions.