The Five Things You Need to Know About Abortion in Texas

Protests in Austin by supporters of abortion rights, Friday, June 24 (Photos by John Anderson)

When it comes to abortion access in Texas, the future is uncertain and so is the present. Some questions do have answers, and we're laying them out in plain terms below. Attorney General Ken Paxton has directed his prosecutors to get to work on abortion cases right away, but attorneys from the Center for Reproductive Rights and ACLU of Texas secured a temporary restraining order on June 28 to hold off prosecutions until Texas' trigger law takes effect later this summer. While CRR is trying to buy clinics some time with the lawsuit, they are not yet fighting the trigger law itself. Of course, even without that ban in effect, Texans face myriad stifling restrictions (Senate Bill 8, laws about mailing pills), so the legal landscape for abortion seekers is still very much a minefield.

Can I be imprisoned for seeking an abortion?

Not under Texas' abortion law. A person who seeks an abortion is not criminalized under any current Texas law, but those who provide abortions or assist people with obtaining abortions can be subjected to criminal and civil penalties under the Texas Penal Code or SB 8. People who have aborted (or miscarried) have been charged and prosecuted across the United States under other laws, however. Anyone who is criminalized for receiving an abortion can receive free legal advice and representation from attorneys at national nonprofit If/When/How (see the resource box below).

Can doctors be imprisoned for performing an abortion?

Yes, but not yet, thanks to the temporary restraining order granted by a state court that has blocked Texas law's enactment until July 12. When Texas' total abortion ban takes effect, providers who perform an abortion will face up to a life sentence in prison. They can also be sued under the framework of SB 8.

Will non-abortion medical care such as ultrasounds be illegal to perform in some settings?

"It's definitely a very gray area right now," said Marva Sadler, senior director of clinical services at Whole Woman's Health, on Tuesday. While ultrasounds and other care that happens prior to an abortion are ever-present in non-abortive pregnancy care, Sadler said providing such services could still threaten Whole Woman's Health providers with prison time. Once the Texas Penal Code's abortion laws take effect, Whole Woman's Health plans to close Texas clinics while staffing out-of-state locations in preparation for a surge of traveling abortion seekers. For Planned Parenthood, "that's one of many questions we are in the process of figuring out with our legal teams. When the decision came down we paused all abortion services so we could evaluate the impact of their opinion on Texas laws on the books. It's an unprecedented, devastating, and complicated landscape with the trigger ban, pre-Roe law, and existing laws and restrictions already in effect," said Autumn Keiser, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas.

Is it legal to order abortion pills in the mail?

Similar to abortion procedures in Texas, it's legal to receive abortion pills but not to send them, so access is severely limited. The Chronicle has published a list of virtual clinics based in haven states that provide prescriptions (ridiculously, you are legally required to travel to that state for your virtual appointment and use an address in that state to receive the pills, though some patients do not divulge their location during their virtual appointments). We've also listed pharmacies outside the U.S. that send pills without a prescription – abortion medication is over the counter in some countries. The list of foreign pharmacies has been provided by Plan C, a U.S. nonprofit organization that orders and tests pills from international providers. Plan C also offers information about how people can use mail forwarding services to have prescription abortion pills sent to an address in a haven state before being immediately redirected to a Texas address. Finally, Aid Access provides mailed pills using a prescription from an Austrian doctor.

Should I worry about reproductive surveillance on Google, over text, or in a clinic?

Maybe. Although we're not there yet, conservative lawmakers seem poised to criminalize pregnant people who receive abortions. Medical records can be subpoenaed in the U.S. in connection to a specific criminal case, but, as Sadler explained, clinics such as Whole Woman's Health will not be handing over bulk records, and they will not hand over any records at all without a warrant signed by a judge. Law enforcement does regularly confiscate phones and use Google search history, email, and text evidence in the investigation of crimes. The nonprofit Digital Defense Fund offers a full list of recommendations for private abortion-related searches and communication – such as using encrypted messaging services and a privacy-focused browser and search engine like Firefox Focus and DuckDuckGo. The full list of recommendations can be found at digitaldefensefund.org/ddf-guides/abortion-privacy.