6 Abortion Clinics for 13 Million Women? Inside Texas' Latest Assault on Women's Rights

http://www.alternet.org/activism/6-abortion-clinics-13-million-women-inside-texas-latest-assault-womens-rights



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The State of (Abortion in) Texas

Texas, which was a Republic before it became the 28th state, has always been its own world. Today, with more than 26 million residents, it’s the second most populous state in the country. It’s also the second largest state in the country, so vast that if it were a nation, it would be the 40th largest in the world. Those distances come into play when women needing abortions look at their options.

Currently, with just the 24 clinics left in the state after the first part of HB2 went into effect in November, access to abortion has been extremely hard to come by, especially for low-income women. Not only do they have to find the means to pay for the procedure, which typically costs $300-$1,000, they have to travel extra distances multiple times.


This hurdle is what inspired Lenzi Sheible to create Fund Texas Women, a volunteer group that funds low-income women’s travel costs to clinics. Sheible was a volunteer at an organization that helped fund abortions, but knew that after HB2 passed, women would also need help with funding their transportation. Since last November, Fund Texas Women has spent $12,000 funding 37 women’s trips to abortion clinics.

In one striking example, Fund Texas Women spent $1,200 on one woman alone, Sheible recounted. The woman, who lived in a rural area, didn’t have a ride and her nearest Greyhound bus station was an hour from her home. Taking the train would drop her off hours away from the nearest abortion clinic. The group gave her the funds to take a taxi four hours to the clinic and back. Her child had to go as well because her family refused to help by watching him, as they did not approve of her abortion.

“Our job is to help those people who have nowhere else to turn,” Sheible said.