Ultra abonnement.
Since opening our hotline ten years ago, Fund Texas Choice has helped Texans from all over the state access abortion through safe, confidential, and comprehensive travel services and practical support. When Texas House Bill 2 shuttered over half of the state’s abortion clinics in 2013, we rallied to support pregnant Texans impacted by increasingly difficult economic and logistical barriers to abortion.
At Fund Texas Choice, we envision a society in which abortion is embraced as healthcare and a human right. As a human right, abortion should be equitably accessible across political, economic, and social systems so that people have autonomous bodies and futures supported by powerful and vibrant communities. Our financial assistance program includes flights, bus and train tickets, rental cars, gas reimbursement, and rideshare costs. We also pay for hotel accommodations, food, and other necessities such as medicine, child care, and sanitary supplies.
Our incredibly diverse clients come from all over the state of Texas, living in large metropolitan cities, small rural communities, suburban areas, western mountain towns, and along the Texas-Mexico border. Each caller we interact with has a unique personal history and distinct reason for seeking our support.
Fund Texas Choice is a member of the National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF). This infrastructure of over 80 statewide and national member funds works collectively to remove the undue barriers to abortion access that abortion seekers face. Some NNAF funds work directly with clinics to cover the cost of the procedure itself; while others - like Fund Texas Choice - provide compassionate practical support in the form of transportation, childcare, hotel accommodations, translation, and doula services.
Our Impact
Over our almost 10 years in operation, Fund Texas Choice has sent thousands of pregnant Texans to their abortion appointments both in and out of state. When Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8) banned abortions at six weeks on September 1, 2021, 99% of the clients we supported were forced to leave Texas to get an abortion.
- Last year, we sent 686 clients a total of 667,949 miles to seek abortion care - with a 44% increase in the average trip distance after SB8 went into effect (from 805 to 1,160 miles).
- After September 2021, we received an influx of over 300 assistance requests per month (up from 50 monthly requests pre-SB8), but were only able to serve about one-third to one-half of callers, despite hiring more staff.
- 73% of our clients identify as Black, Indigenous, or other persons of color. Anti-abortion laws like SB8 are intended to shame, stigmatize, and marginalize the most vulnerable pregnant people, disproportionately affecting queer, trans, Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other working class communities of color.
- 62% of our clients report they are already parenting and name childcare as the number one barrier to accessing abortion services after travel expenses.This motivated us to add childcare reimbursement to our organizational support model.
By the age of 45, 1 in 4 pregnant persons will have an abortion - across all racial, political, social, religious, and class lines. We know that abortions save lives, and we hear from supporters and donors monthly who tell us their abortion is the reason they are a parent today. Abortion seekers go on to live beautiful and full lives thanks to their abortions!
How YOU Can Help
The shattering decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health left thousands of pregnant Texans vulnerable to inhumane and burdensome anti-abortion laws throughout Texas and across the country. Without the protections of Roe, anti-abortion activist legislators, attorneys, and other groups have been emboldened to devise sinister ways to threaten and intimidate people who simply want to help Texans obtain necessary healthcare out of state.
Due to this incredibly hostile, volatile, and uncertain legal landscape, we have been forced to temporarily pause practical support services. However, we remain committed to fulfilling our mission and to reproductive justice FOR THE LONG HAUL. We, along with eight other abortion and practical support funds and a medical provider, have filed a proactive lawsuit (Fund Texas Choice v. Paxton, 22-cv-00859, US District Court, Western District of Texas, Austin) seeking to ensure we can continue to legally assist pregnant Texans in exercising their constitutional rights to travel and to protect our constitutional rights to free speech and association.
Our proactive lawsuit asserts that while abortions are prohibited in virtually all circumstances under Texas state law post-Dobbs, those laws cannot restrict other constitutional rights of Texans, including:
- the right to travel freely to and from other states,
- the rights to free speech and association,
- the right to donate money to political causes they believe in, and
- the right to extend compassion to family, friends, and community members in need.
Compassion and care are not criminal activities, and Texas law cannot control conduct throughout the country. Our case asserts that travel, advocacy, political and practical donations, and speech are constitutionally protected. This lawsuit seeks to end the ongoing threats and intimidation by extremist legislators and government officials and to allow us, our partner organizations, and all people in Texas to provide compassionate care and assistance to pregnant Texans in need of reproductive support.
Fund Texas Choice and our allies are stepping in to do what the state legislature refuses to do - to truly prioritize pregnant Texans and their healthcare. By hosting a charity stream through Streamlabs in benefit of Fund Texas Choice, you will be directly supporting our Take Back Texas Legal Defense Fund and ensuring we do not have to use our existing client-dedicated resources to stand in solidarity with pregnant Texans who otherwise would have no option but to tragically carry an unwanted pregnancy against their will.
Helpful Links:
- Learn more about Fund Texas Choice
- Start fundraising for Fund Texas Choice using Streamlabs Charity
- Download the free Overlays for Streamlabs Desktop
- Install the matching Charity Alerts
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