Austin, Texas — Samantha Sorsby-Jones watched as friends at her Texas high school went to great lengths to achieve birth control: She secretly arranged trips to clinics that didn’t require parental consent and hid phones in bushes in case parents were stalking them.
Beginning Tuesday, access to reproductive health care is likely to come under renewed scrutiny before the Republican-controlled Texas Capitol, where new restrictions are on the table in the first session since a tough statewide ban on abortion went into effect.
Texas’ abortion ban is one of the strictest in the country, allowing no exceptions in cases of rape or incest, and Republican leaders have been non-binding on adding carveouts over the next five months. Across the country, reproductive rights are poised to remain a dominant theme in other U.S. state buildings, where a patchwork of policies has spread nationwide after the fall Roe v. Calf.
“The right to bodily autonomy is being taken away in so many different ways, it’s really devastating,” said Sorsby-Jones, 20, who was able to get birth control at a state-funded clinic three years ago as a high school student in Texas after her parents refused had to help her.
But a December ruling by a federal judge in Amarillo has suddenly closed that avenue for other Texas teens. US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk ruled that allowing free birth control without parental consent in state-funded clinics under a program known as Title X to minors violates parental rights and state law.
Such clinics provide a range of family planning services and served more than 182,000 people in Texas in 2020, according to Every Body Texas, which administers funds for the state. A bill introduced by a Democrat in response to Kacsmaryk’s ruling could face opposition from Republicans, who have controlled the Texas legislature for two decades and increased their majority in the midterm elections this fall.
For Republicans, new proposals include punishing companies that help their Texas employees request abortions elsewhere, restricting access to abortion-promoting drugs through the mail, and dispensing emergency contraceptives. Anti-abortion groups are also urging lawmakers to spend more money on services for pregnant and parenting Texans in the wake of Texas’ abortion ban, including expanding Medicaid coverage for mothers.
John Seago, president of the anti-abortion group Texas Right to Life, said he doesn’t see enough support from the GOP to create exceptions to the state’s abortion ban. “If we don’t act on that in this session, it kind of becomes the status quo,” Seago said.
After receiving help from a Title X clinic, Sorsby-Jones said she spent years helping other teens find the resources to make independent reproductive health decisions. In high school, she said, some of her classmates had to hide their phones in bushes at a nearby fast-food restaurant or leave them at school because of parental geolocation apps.
When she volunteered with a nonprofit that helps teens access reproductive health resources, Sorsby-Jones said clients have included minors in abusive households and those who help in seeking parental permission for birth control faced cultural barriers. Although the main focus has been on prevention, Sorsby-Jones said this has to do with access to medication for many teens without the stigma for conditions like endometriosis that caused them to miss school due to severe abdominal pain.
Rosann Mariappuram, executive director of Jane’s Due Process, said her organization’s hotline received calls and texts with questions from Texas teenagers immediately after the December court ruling. “When that ruling came down, it took away reproductive rights from Texas teenagers practically overnight,” Mariappuram said.
At least 13 states have also banned abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with various exceptions, with many discussing ways to restrict or expand access when lawmakers across the country go back into session. Several existing and less restrictive bans are being challenged in court.
State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, a Democrat from the border city of Laredo, tabled the proposal that would contest the Title X ruling. She was a recipient of Title X contraceptives herself after having a child as a teenager.
“This law empowers young people to make decisions about their own health care but also about their future,” Ramos said.
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