The Quickie: Texas Abortion Providers Reflect On Two-Year Anniversary of SB8

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: Providers reflect on the 2-year anniversary of restrictive Texas abortion ban, 12th Mexican state decriminalizes abortion, and anti-abortion center spending is high – but not because of their services.

TEXAS ABORTION PROVIDERS REFLECT ON TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF SB8: This week marks the two year anniversary of Texas’ restrictive abortion ban, Senate Bill 8, going into effect. The law bans most abortions after six weeks with no exceptions and includes a provision that allows anyone who “aids and abets” an abortion to be sued. The ban became even stricter following the Dobbs decision in June 2022 and has forced providers to limit the care they can give or leave the state altogether.

“I had to tell people there’s nothing I can legally do for you, unless you’re on death’s doorstep,” Dr. Jessica Rubino, an abortion provider and family medicine specialist in Austin, told The Guardian. “The law forced me to be a bad doctor.”

“It was heartbreaking and soul-crushing,” she continued. “I was watching a healthcare disaster play out in real time, knowing that this law not only affects our state but is causing a ripple effect in every other state. With SB 8 – and even years before the law – we saw the writing on the wall with Roe and tried to warn everyone, but I’m not sure who was listening.”

More from Reuters

ANTI-ABORTION CENTERS ARE SPENDING $$$$$ — BUT ON WHAT?: Nationwide, there are an estimated 4,000 anti-abortion centers (often called “crisis pregnancy centers” by their supporters) claiming to support pregnant people. These centers rake in millions of dollars a year not just from abortion opponents, but from state governments — that includes your taxpayer dollars. But where exactly is that money going?

A new report from Rewire shows that these organizations are spending an estimated $1 billion annually. Oh, and that number is only a fraction of what anti-abortion think tank the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) claims is the value of the services provided: a measly $2.67 million. While the CLI report inflates that value — Henderson points out that the math was done using wages for skilled health care workers, even though the majority of staff and volunteers at these centers have no medical training — it provides more evidence that anti-abortion centers are a grift pretending to be a health care provider:

“Could the CLI report be an attempt to represent the value of CPC services to clients? Certainly. But another well-known fact about CPCs is that the services they provide are usually limited—and come with strings attached. The CLI report even acknowledges that most centers use “an incentive-based approach.” That is, parents are “invited” to attend classes—which are typically religious in nature—to “earn points or ‘baby bucks’/CARE cash” that can be exchanged for items like diapers, wipes, baby clothes, and formula.

In other words, “free” isn’t free at a CPC, and the goods and services they do supply probably aren’t as valuable as the CLI report would have you think.”

Henderson and the philanthropy experts featured in the story agree: these deceptive centers need to be held accountable.