Go to Content Go to Navigation Go to Navigation Go to Site Search Homepage

Despite the fact that abortion is one of the safest medical procedures performed in the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit this week ruled that medically unnecessary restrictions that could severely restrict Texas women’s access to safe, legal abortion are constitutional. The case was brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

This ruling comes as women’s health advocates are in day six of an ongoing protest outside Governor Abbott’s mansion calling for a veto of a newly passed measure restricting access to free cancer screenings for low-income women.

In addition to passing one of the most extreme abortion restrictions in the nation, years of hostile policies in Texas have left tens of thousands of Texas women without access to cancer screenings, birth control, HIV tests and other preventive care.

Planned Parenthood will continue to do everything they can to protect access to care — no matter what. Planned Parenthood affiliates will continue to provide safe, legal abortions at health centers in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Ft. Worth and San Antonio.

“We have witnessed firsthand the terrible impact these restrictions have on women across Texas, who cannot get to a medical provider and are forced to delay getting care. Politicians are not medical experts, yet politicians have written these restrictions with the end goal of cutting off access to safe, legal abortion. 

One thing will never change: Planned Parenthood will be here for the women who rely on us in the Lone Star state and across the country, no matter what.

– Cecile Richards, president, Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

"This ruling – if allowed to stand – will have a devastating effect on women’s access to safe, legal abortion in Texas. Politicians in Texas have worked tirelessly to deny women access to safe abortion, affordable birth control and cancer screenings.

But Planned Parenthood will continue to do everything in its power to protect a woman’s right to make her own personal medical decisions — including providing safe, legal abortions at its health centers in Texas.”

– Yvonne Gutierrez, executive director of Planned Parenthood Texas Votes. 

Within hours of the Texas restrictions taking effect last October and before the Supreme Court stepped in to temporarily block the restrictions, Planned Parenthood witnessed the catastrophic impact to women across the state — with health centers inundated with calls from frightened and upset patients, and women lined up outside health center doors, waiting to see if they could still access the care they needed at the Planned Parenthood health centers that remained open:

  • Doris Dixon, a call center director for Planned Parenthood in Houston, shared a heartbreaking account of a woman who traveled from out of state and stayed in Houston overnight, only to find that she couldn’t obtain a procedure, writing: “I don’t know what will happen to her. I don’t know that I will ever stop thinking about her. And she is just one woman whose life has been turned upside down by this law.”
  • In Houston, Planned Parenthood reported that its call volume from patients seeking abortion services increased 170 percent when the law was in effect.
  • In the days after the order, Planned Parenthood in Austin received seven times as many calls about abortion services, as compared to typical averages.
  • Across Central and North Texas, Planned Parenthood saw a daily average of four times as many calls from women seeking abortions.
  • Many of these calls were from women living far outside the affiliates’ service regions, in cities such as Midland and McAllen, where providers have closed.

Tags: Abortion, Courts, Texas, Planned Parenthood, State Fights, HB 2, GIF

Is Abortion Still Legal in My State?

Learn about abortion access changes in your state.

Get the Facts

Tell Our Courts: Save Mifepristone!

We should be able to trust our courts to respect science and follow the law. It's time for our leaders to hear us, loud and clear: The attack on mifepristone is a gross injustice that could harm millions of people.

Speak Out Now

Planned Parenthood Action Fund Will NEVER Back Down

Know this: our right to abortion is not debatable. We will rebuild and reclaim the freedom that is ours.

Donate

Sign Up for Email

Sign Up

Explore more on

We and our third partners use cookies and other tools to collect, store, monitor, and analyze information about your interaction with our site to improve performance, analyze your use of our sites and assist in our marketing efforts. You may opt out of the use of these cookies and other tools at any time by visiting Cookie Settings. By clicking “Allow All Cookies” you consent to our collection and use of such data, and our Terms of Use. For more information, see our Privacy Notice.

Cookie Settings

We, and our third-party partners, use cookies, pixels, and other tracking technologies to collect, store, monitor, and process certain information about you when you access and use our services, read our emails, or otherwise engage with us. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device. We use that information to make the site work, analyze performance and traffic on our website, to provide a more personalized web experience, and assist in our marketing efforts. We also share information with our social media, advertising, and analytics partners. You can change your default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our Necessary Cookies as they are deployed to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information, please see our Privacy Notice.

Marketing

On

We use online advertising to promote our mission and help constituents find our services. Marketing pixels help us measure the success of our campaigns.

User Feedback and Session Replay

On

We use qualitative data from LogRocket, UserZoom, Hotjar and AB Tasty to learn about your user experience and improve our products and services. LogRocket allows us to view session replays.