Tejas Made: What Reproductive Rights Look Like For Latines In Texas

Article originally appeared in Remezcla on September 22nd, 2020.

Gomez learned she was five weeks and four days pregnant when she went in for her sonogram appointment. She would have to return to the same clinic 24 hours later to get the abortion—a waiting period required by Texas law. The clinic was able to connect her to a local abortion fund to help pay for half of the procedure but Gomez needed an additional $300 to pay in full. Gomez worked at McDonald’s at the time and knew she couldn’t afford it, but had to find a way to fund the procedure—and fast, because the price increases the longer you wait. 

“I was not in a situation where I could afford even a $50 increase, much less one of a couple hundred dollars,” Gomez explains. “And I needed a ride, so I was at the mercy of the person who impregnated me [and] was abusive. I was on his schedule and if [it] did not line up correctly, it wasn’t going to happen. And I said that I was not going to be pregnant. I didn’t want to be pregnant.”