Pro-choice protesters march outside the Texas State Capitol on Wednesday, Sept. 1, in Austin, Texas.Photo: Sergio Flores For The Washington Post via Getty
Listen to Anna Rupani’s interview withPEOPLE Every Day below:
“We’re hearing that other states want to see how long this plays out, and can they create just as restrictive laws in their own states,” she explained.
While abortion care may be easily accessible for most women in states like New York, Rupani questioned, “will it be easy to access if other states outside of Texas start banning abortion?”
“I think in Oklahoma, for the last three weeks, most of the patients at a couple of Oklahoma clinics have only been Texans. So that means you’re forcing Oklahomans out of their state, unfortunately, because that’s the first place Texans are going to get care,” she said. “And this is just going to create a chilling and trickle-down effect of where folks are going.”
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Sergio Flores/Getty
Rupani said her organization is seeing clients traveling to cities like Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, DC “because that’s the first place they can get an appointment quickly enough where they can also make sure they can get time off, or have resources back home taking care of their children.”
“So this is going to impact the entire nation, whether it means folks in other states can’t access care in their home state because folks from Texas or the South are traveling outside of their own states, or if that means that in those states, more restrictive laws will be passed,” Rupani cautioned.
The law also rewards a minimum of $10,000 to private citizens who successfully sue abortion providers. Anyone who aids in an individual securing an abortion — including those driving the patient to a clinic or helping to cover the cost — can also be sued.
After the Supreme Courtdeclinedto block the law in a 5-4 vote, the Justice Departmentsued Texasover the law Sept. 9.
“The act is clearly unconstitutional under long-standing Supreme Court precedent,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit, perThe Associated Press.
Last week, the departmentasked a federal judgein an emergency motion to block enforcement of the ban, arguing that Senate Bill 8 was created “to prevent women from exercising their constitutional rights.”
source: people.com
