My Abortion Saved My Life. However the Supreme Court Rules, Help Is There

Article originally appeared in Newsweek on June 26th, 2020.

Seven years ago this week, I was pregnant. At the same time, thousands of Texans flooded the State Capitol to oppose an abortion law that would eventually lead to the loss of more than half our state's clinics and later be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Now, just four years after that decision, we're waiting for another Supreme Court ruling, on June Medical Services v. Russo, a case centered on an identical law out of Louisiana.

In 2013, I had an abortion in Austin, Texas. With close to no money in my pocket, I was able to pay for my abortion because of an abortion fund, a nonprofit organization that provided direct financial assistance and helped me get the care I needed. I had my abortion just before Texas politicians pushed through House Bill 2, which decimated abortion access in the state. I can't bring myself to think about what my life would be like right now if I hadn't been able to access that care and was forced to continue that pregnancy. My abortion saved my life.