Democrats will ensure that Texans have access to compassionate reproductive care, which includes abortion.
Texas is a state that prides itself on individual freedom, deregulation, the power to make decisions for ourselves, and to not be tread upon. These principals should apply to Texas women, who are smart and capable and should be trusted to make their own decisions about whether and when to have children.
- Texas women deserve compassionate care, regardless of their circumstances.
- Restricting access to abortion increases maternal mortality rates.
- Access to compassionate reproductive care includes access to abortion, but it also includes access to birth control, sex education, counseling, pregnancy care, and mental health services.
- The same medications and procedures used for abortions are also used to care for women who are experiencing a miscarriage or who cannot carry a child to term. Restrictive abortion laws put the lives of those women in danger.
- Criminalizing abortion does not stop abortions, it just makes abortion less safe.
Facts about Compassionate Reproductive Care and Abortion
- 6 in 10 U.S. adults (61%) say that abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Source: NPR
- Over 90% of abortions happen in the first trimester (by 13 weeks). Source: NPR
- Medical researchers agree a fetus is not capable of experiencing pain until the third trimester, somewhere between 29 or 30 weeks. Source: NPR
- Criminalizing or restricting abortion prevents doctors from providing basic care. Source: Amnesty International
Additional resources
World Health Organization: Abortion Fact Sheet
Physicians for a National Health Program: Experts concerned that Texas’ near-total abortion ban will cause an increase in maternal mortality
Texas Tribune: Abortion restrictions threaten care for pregnant patients, providers say
Texas Department of State Health Services: Maternal Mortality and Morbidity in Texas
Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health: The negative health implications of restricting abortion access
Laws and Initiatives that Texas Democrats Support
- Restoring women’s freedom to choose in Texas by reversing Abbott’s near-total ban on abortion.
- Fully funding family planning services.
- Funding initiatives to combat this state’s maternal mortality crisis, which includes expanding Medicaid eligibility to help more women see a doctor and increasing Medicaid coverage for pregnant women to at least one year postpartum.
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