Since 1954
Mary Tuma is a freelance reporter based in Austin who focuses on Texas reproductive rights. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Nation, VICE, Rewire News Group, HuffPost, and Ms. Magazine. She has worked as a staff reporter for the Austin Chronicle, San Antonio Current, the Texas Independent, and the American Independent News Network.
In an 8-to-1 ruling, the Justices ruled that lawsuits against Texas’ anti-abortion law could proceed, but left women in the state to suffer its consequences in the meantime.
Democratic lawmakers say Texas’ new abortion ban compounds the many existing barriers to reproductive health care for the state’s poorest patients.
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the conservative Justices seemed poised to allow Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban to stand.
“We are seeing massive ripple effects across the country for other states taking on displaced patients.”
The state health agency continues to propose cutting services for families while leaving fully intact a program that funds anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers.
Seeing a “disturbing” decrease in clients and callers amid COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, some domestic violence shelters in rural counties worry this is just the “calm before the storm.”
After leaving cities and counties to handle coronavirus on their own, state intervention could be too little, too late.
