In the weeks before Texas’ de facto abortion ban SB 8 went into effect, Trust Women clinics in Oklahoma City and Wichita were already seeing an increase in appointments from Texas patients seeking essential abortion care. Trust Women's clinics stayed open, ready to provide quality, compassionate abortion care to any woman who needs it, regardless of ability to pay.

Read about abortion laws by state here.

Trust Women is also currently coordinating with funds and providers from Texas and across the Midwest region in order to provide the best care possible for their patients. It is also important that the public be aware of the dire situation that the Texas abortion ban has created.

It comes as Texas' abortion ban for women who are more than six weeks pregnant came into effect on Sep. 1 after the Supreme Court did not act on a request from pro-abortion rights groups and providers to block it.

Read why abortion access and women's reproductive rights are LGBTQ issues here.

The law is one of the most restrictive in the U.S., and effectively bans the majority of abortions in Texas. In a statement released on Sep. 1. President Joe Biden, a Catholic, called the law "extreme" and one that "blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade and upheld as precedent for nearly half a century."

In Kansas, where Trust Women opened a clinic in Wichita in 2013, the following restrictions on abortion were in effect in Kansas as of Dec. 1, 2015, according to the Guttmacher Institute:

• A woman must receive state-directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage her from having an abortion and then wait 24 hours before the procedure is provided.
• Abortion is covered in private insurance policies only in cases of life endangerment, unless an optional rider is purchased at an additional cost.
• Health plans that will be offered in the state’s health exchange under the Affordable Care Act can only cover abortion when the woman’s life is endangered.
• Abortion is covered in insurance policies for public employees only in cases of life endangerment.
• The use of telemedicine for the performance of medication abortion is prohibited.
• The parents of a minor must consent before an abortion is provided.
• Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
• A woman must undergo an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion; the provider must offer her the option to view the image.
• An abortion may be performed at or after 20 weeks postfertilization (22 weeks after the woman’s last menstrual period) only if the woman’s life is endangered or if her physical health is severely compromised, based on the spurious assertion that a fetus can feel pain at that point.

ABOUT TRUST WOMEN

 Trust Women was founded in 2009 with the mission to open clinics that provide abortion care in underserved areas. The organization currently operates two reproductive health care clinics in Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma which provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare for all those who need it, including abortions. Trust Women provides education, advocacy and community support across the region in support of expanded access to abortion care with a focus on reproductive justice. Learn more at trustwomen.org.