Dec 3, 2015
Speaking Out in Texas: Sharing Stories to Change Abortion Debate
As the news came earlier this month that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up a challenge to a Texas law limiting access to abortion care, we were not surprised. We’ve both lived in Texas at different points in our lives and currently are in college at Texas A&M and UT RGV. When we think about the size of our state — 260,000 square miles and almost 27 million people — it’s alarming that there are now fewer than 20 clinics in the entire state where it’s possible to access abortion care.
With this unnecessarily strict and highly contested law (HB2) that forced many clinics to close across the state, the Texas government has left millions without access to a common procedure that has been a part of health care for decades. Closing clinics in our communities won’t end the need for abortion — it forces people to take matters into their own hands. The truth is abortion touches all our lives — 1 in 3 women will have an abortion in their lifetime, and 73,200 people had abortions in Texas in 2011.
But instead of working to ensure abortion care remains safe, legal, and accessible in all communities, Texas has joined other conservative state legislatures that have played politics with women’s health by implementing over 230 restrictions on abortion in just the last four years. In our state, these restrictions are felt the heaviest among low-income women of color, especially at the border. As the country turns its eye towards reproductive health in our state again with the biggest Supreme Court decision on abortion since Roe v. Wade, it’s clear to us that this national debate is missing something crucial: the voices of people who have had an abortion.
We need to ensure that the conversations in Texas and beyond include the voices of people who have experienced abortion, not just politicians and ideologues seeking to win political points. A study out of the California Center for Population Research at UCLA last year found that when abortion opponents have an in-person conversation with a woman who’s chosen to end a pregnancy, they’re more likely to shift their view about whether the procedure should be legal.
As the number of legal clinics in Texas dwindles, we’re committed to sharing the stories of real abortion experiences. That’s why we put on a play featuring vignettes based on abortion stories from real people all over the country this month on our campuses at Texas A&M and UT RGV . From depicting a young college grad’s struggle with her financial future, to showing the heartbreaking conversation between a young couple deciding to terminate their wanted pregnancy to save the mother’s life, the play’s vignettes take the audience to the heart of diverse and real abortion experiences.
The play, called Out of Silence, is part of Advocates for Youth’s 1 in 3 Campaign, which aims to build a culture of compassion, empathy, and support for access to abortion care across the country by encouraging others to tell their abortion stories. The play is also being performed at more than twenty other campuses this month, from Ohio to New Jersey to Seattle.
In becoming involved with the 1 in 3 Campaign, we’ve found that speaking openly about abortion has an immeasurable impact. When one person shares a personal story, it creates a ripple effect, encouraging others to step forward and speak about their own experiences. We saw this in 2013 when, as a college student and as a high school student, we eagerly watched Wendy Davis’ all-night filibuster of another damaging state abortion bill. While that bill was ultimately signed into law, the power of Wendy’s own abortion story motivated people to discuss abortion rights in Texas and beyond.
By amplifying these stories through the performance of Out of Silence, we as a country can begin to move beyond the current polarized political conversation to an approach that reflects the reality of people’s experiences. We’re just doing our part on campus to make sure Texans hear the powerful, touching, humorous, and often moving stories in this play, and we’re hopeful that it can inspire others to share their stories.
Young people in Texas can help change the future of abortion rights in our state, and it starts by simply speaking up. It’s time for us to share real abortion experiences and empower our community members to make the debate around access to care more personal.
By Laura Reid and Sadie Hernandez
