Texas Matters is a Monday evening series focusing on Texas political news while sharing information and strategies with the aim of taking back our state.
Those of us who stood with Wendy Davis and opposed Texas Republicans' sweeping anti-abortion bill warned it would happen. We not only defended Texas women's right to choose to have an abortion, which is important in its own respect, but we also reminded those who crusaded to shut down abortion providers that clinics such as Planned Parenthood are about a whole lot more than abortion. Unfortunately, we're already seeing the proof of that, in the midst of clinic shutdown after clinic shutdown now that the draconian bill is law. And the proof comes in human form--real, living, breathing women who not only don't have access to safe abortions, but also don't have access to basic necessities such as birth control and cervical checks.
Austin's KUT News has a disturbing, but not surprising, report up about two women, in particular, who have been adversely affected by the law, to put it mildly. The anti-choicers claim there are plenty of other doctors for women not seeking an abortion to see, but these cases show the situation is far more complicated, and the reality much more dire, than that.
Take Athena Mason, for instance. As a student at Texas A&M, she went to a local doctor for the first checkup of her college career. She describes what the appointment was like:
I had a hickey and the doctor was just like, you shouldn’t be doing that. I’m like, "it’s a hickey, it’s nothing major." But I got a big lecture, [he said] my boyfriend was abusive and all of these things. And then I asked for birth control. I did not hear the end of that. So I said never mind, I’ll go someplace else.
That led her to the Planned Parenthood clinic in nearby Bryan, where she was able to have her needs met without the intrusiveness and condescension she would have otherwise experienced. And then, thanks to Texas Republicans and their decision to ram through their anti-abortion bill, that clinic closed down completely on August 1. Now, Mason has to drive the three hours to her hometown of Fort Worth to get the health care she needs. Some of her friends aren't so fortunate.
A lot of my friends have come up to me and they’re like, "Oh my gosh I had an appointment next week but it’s closed now and I didn’t even know."
From KUT:
The Bryan clinic was one of two abortion and women’s health providers in Texas that closed last month. Both cited the state’s new abortion law for closing. Which makes people like Mason and Bryan resident Cadence King collateral damage from the new legislative restrictions.
“If there’s a woman who has reached a decision, she needs an abortion, she’s going to find a place to go," King said. "There’s going to be a place that she can go. Yeah, she’s going to have to drive and that’s supremely unfortunate. But overall the majority of women that are going to hurt are the ones that need just the routine health care.”
And then there's the even more unfortunate case of Cadence King. In 1998, she was diagnosed as having pre-cancerous cells on her cervix. The Bryan Planned Parenthood clinic has been extremely important in her life in the fifteen years after her diagnosis, as she has to have regular checks to make sure the condition wasn't progressing. Since the closure of the clinic, King has already missed some of her regular checks. Her only options are driving three hours to Beaumont or using a clinic in town that doesn't have an open appointment date for the next four months.
I’m probably up against that window right now. There are some decisions that I need to make. And sticking your head in the sand is only good for so long.
KUT continues:
These stories are nothing new to Jose Camacho, the executive director of the Texas Association of Community Health Centers. He says the access problem is best summed up by one number: 23 percent. Back in 2011, the legislature cut funding for a state program that provides preventative care to low income women. Since those cuts, the number of claims filed under that program are down by 23 percent.
Mason and King are only two women, and Bryan's Planned Parenthood is only one clinic. For every Mason and every King, you know there has to be many more in the Bryan area. Multiply that by six--that's how many clinics have closed or are threatening to close. And that's just so far, before the full effects of this law are even felt.
We knew this was going to happen. Meanwhile, the anti-choice side is trying to claim the mantle of protecting women's health. From Burnt Orange Report:
After Midland's clinic closed in late August, an anti-choice organization called Texas Alliance for Life rallied outside.
TAL Executive Director told the crowd: "I feel so great about the pro-life movement in Texas. We get it...The goal is to protect women's health. What we're doing is saving lives."
That is exactly the opposite of what they're doing.
Indeed. I'm sure Mason and King would have something to say to TAL.
Yet another reason we need to get Republicans out of power in Texas. The longer we are stuck in this Republican rut, the longer women like Mason and King and so many others will have to worry about their basic health care. Texas women deserve better than that.
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Got more Texas news stories or action alerts? Share them in the comments!