Planned Parenthood Hotlines Now Crisis Centers

Planned Parenthood Hotlines Now Crisis Centers

  • Since Texas lawmakers passed SB8, a bill that bans abortion after 6 weeks, abortion providers have taken on a new role.
  • The president of Planned Parenthood says counselors must recommend out-of state care.
  • They must also comfort women who cannot afford to travel or are left with unwanted pregnancies.

Planned Parenthood’s call centers, which are typically used for 24/7 advice from counselors, have become “crisis hotlines” amidst Texas’ new strict abortion ban, according to the organization’s president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson.

Along with other reproductive rights groups ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project (Planned Parenthood Federation of America), they petitioned the Supreme Court for their appeal to SB8, Texas’ bill banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Together with state abortion providers, they say that patients are desperate to receive care that is not available.

Texas lawmakers approved SB8 on October 31st. This law makes it impossible to have an abortion after six weeks. Texans are financially motivated to sue their neighbors who violate the law.

“Planned Parenthood call centers have become crisis hotlines and health center staff have become crisis counselors,” McGill Johnson said in a September 23 joint petition to the Supreme Court.

McGill Johnson stated that Texans still ask for abortions every week since SB8 was passed. When Texas Planned Parenthood centers are called, counselors direct them to out-of-state care or help them grapple with having “pregnancies against their will,” said McGill Johnson.

Potentially fatal mental and physical health concerns are common reasons people seek abortions, Dr. Bhavik Kumar, a doctor at Planned Parenthood Center for Choice in Houston who performs upwards of 30 abortions daily, told theTexas Tribune.

“Many of the patients that I take care of will say, ‘I can’t be pregnant because my last delivery was very traumatic and I almost died’ or ‘I can’t be pregnant because I have heart problems’ or whatever medical condition that’s eliminated their ability to continue the pregnancy,” According to Kumar, the Texas Tribune was informed. “I think that’s not appreciated enough.”

Texas doctors are also sounding the alarm on SB8

SB8 allows Texans to sue fellow residents involved in abortion care performed after six weeks of pregnancy. Residents can sue and win $10,000 and get their attorney fees compensated.

This clause places healthcare workers, rideshare drivers, as well as others involved in the abortion process, in legal peril.

Dr. Ghazaleh Mayedi is an abortion provider. She went to Texas medical school and has continued practicing there ever since. In aninterview with NPR, Moayedi said the bill prevents her from doing the work she was trained to do.

“You know, this bill is 100% about putting fear in physicians and putting fear in abortion funds and intimidating us,” Moayedi told NPR.

She explained to NPR that job loss could also be a sign she is unable financially support her family.

Latest News

Related Articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here