SAN ANTONIO — Women in Texas seeking doctor-prescribed abortion pills are now constrained to a smaller window to use the medication following a bill that was passed in the state legislature.
Senate Bill 4 (SB4) criminalizes the prescribing of abortion-inducing pills for women who are more than seven weeks pregnant.
Those who facilitate the sale and prescription of the pills could face jail time, a up $10,000 fine and between six months to two years behind bars.
“We haven’t seen that before and it is deeply concerning that we are further stigmatizing abortion,” said Mara Posada, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood South Texas.
In 2000, the FDA approved medicated abortion pills that can be taken through the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
Texas’ new law narrows that time-window to seven weeks.
“Texans who value personal liberty and care about individual freedoms should be appalled that once again state politicians are interfering with private medical decisions,” Posada said.
Posada calls it yet another barrier to abortion access in the state. This comes following the passage of Senate Bill 8, which bans abortion procedures as early as six weeks into pregnancy.
Jonathan Saenz, president of Texas Values, noted the importance of SB 4 as a way of enhancing safety for women and the unborn.
“Senate Bill 4, the no-mail order abortions bill allows to have those safety regulations in place and protect unborn children but also women. A girl in her dorm room could receive a drug that could cause the end of her baby in her room but could also have side effects to where she’s not in a doctor’s office, there’s nobody to take care of her,” Saenz said.
The FDA indicates the abortion-inducing pills are safe to use up to 10 weeks after conception, while evidence shows it can be safe later in pregnancy, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
As of October, Planned Parenthood has resumed abortion care within the restrictive confines laid out by SB 8.
“There is abortion that is available very early in pregnancy and that options are there, and patients can go to needabortion.org or they can call Planned Parenthood or visit our website.”
Numerous organizations in Texas have been flooded with calls from women needing financial assistance for abortion procedures that go beyond the limits of SB 8.
Clinics in neighboring New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana have been seeing large numbers of Texas women seeking abortions.
Abortion advocates and anti-abortion groups are paying close attention to what’s happening in Washington D.C. as the Supreme Court weighs the future of landmark case Roe. V. Wade.