Let's say you want to start a family; you’ve been trying for years up until this point. Then, you finally see those two lines on that pregnancy test. You excitedly tell your partner and start to plan everything to welcome the new member of your family. You go to the doctors for a check up, and receive heartbreaking news, you’ve developed a condition called cervical insufficiency, which would eventually cause you to lose your child. You are unable to get an abortion due to a trigger law that was just developed in your state, and you almost lose your life when your water breaks.

That was the reality for Amanda Zurawski, who, in 2022, had her life put in danger when she was denied an abortion.

Amanda was just 18 weeks pregnant with her first child, she and her husband had just recently bought their dream home in Austin, Texas, ready to grow their family. When they had learned she was having a daughter, they were over the moon, however, she was then diagnosed with a condition that was the cause of her losing her child but also put her at risk with the Texas abortion ban. 

On June 24th, 2022, In the United States, Roe v. Wade, which was set in place to allow the legalization of abortion access, was overturned by The Supreme Court. This meant that if a woman chose whether or not to have an abortion, it was no longer protected under the constitution. Each individual state was now allowed to independently decide on whether to keep abortion access available. As a result, one in just three women and girls now live in states where abortion is no longer accessible.

After the overturning, Texas now has one of the strictest laws on abortion in the entire country, making it illegal in almost all circumstances, only allowing leeway if it would save the life of the patient or if there was “substantial impairment of a major bodily function”.

If a health practitioner was to perform an abortion, they could face civil and criminal penalties, from being given a fine up to a hundred thousand USD, and up to life imprisonment.

Having the ability to choose shouldn't be met with prison time.

As of 2023, there are almost fifteen million women living in Texas.

All of them have no personal bodily autonomy about their reproductive systems.

All of them have their government saying what they should do with their bodies.

None of them have control over their own rights, they have no say on what might happen to them. And this is a human rights crisis that the United States government is paying no mind to. 

My name is Atlas Lens, I’m a grade twelve student in Saskatchewan, Canada. And I'm fortunate enough to live in a place where reproductive healthcare is very accessible to many people, and when I first learned about Amanda’s story and others alike, my heart broke for the many women whose lives and health were at stake due to what the Texas Government has been doing.

Over the course of my life, I have been well informed about reproductive health and wellness, but I couldn't imagine having a child at my age, much less having no choice but to be a mother at seventeen years old.

I was thankful to find that Reproductive Freedom for All has been trying to fight for abortion access in America, especially during the times after the overturning of Roe V. Wade, protesting and helping women and girls get proper abortion access in the US.

I was less than thankful when I found out that Texas’s Governor Greg Abbott is continuing to make abortion access unobtainable for the people of the state. Signing bills such as House Bill 1280 in which it banned abortions in most circumstances, along with Senate Bill 8, otherwise known as the “Heartbeat Bill” Which meant after the discovery of a heartbeat within the embryo, which was around six weeks, an abortion became illegal unless the mother’s life was threatened.

We need to abolish these bills that were put in place, we need to make abortion access widespread across the nation, we need to open the eyes of these governors and have them realise they are taking away bodily autonomy from the people of their country.

How can you help?

Speak up- Talk to your friends, family, coworkers, anyone you can think of, and tell them why abortion is an essential human right and it's crucial to the wellbeing of someone’s life and their own future. Inform your networks, share and engage with posts, let people know that they aren't alone in this battle.

Donate- Abortion funds provide financial and practical support to people seeking out abortions, Donate to organizations and charities such as Reproductive Freedom for All and Keep Our Clinics. Small community based clinics provide most reproductive care and abortions in the United States, help keep these clinics open so that more people can access reproductive and sexual health services.

Sign this petition- By signing this petition, you are helping spread awareness about the awful circumstances around reproductive rights in Texas, you are helping make a change!