Reproductive Health
Its just terrifying, says a sorority president of the new abortion law.
On the backside was a QR code linking to information about how to buy abortion pills on the down-low.
Carmen, 19, was in awe.
This isnt the safest place to be doing something like this, Carmen remembers thinking.
Its a self-selecting group of those willing to talk about abortions with a reporter.
She feels now is the time to be brave and is posting stickers with that QR code around town.
(The Sanctuary City decisionhasnt been well testedin court.)
One of Carmens friends thought she was pregnant in the spring.
You think, Thats never going to happen to them.
She says she would probablybuy medication online to have an abortionat home.
Nearly 400 miles southeast of Lubbock, Alyssa Le sits in her apartment in Austin, Texas.
So she holds back, and doesn’t give any formal recommendations about ending a pregnancy.
Mostly, shes frustrated.
Le grew up middle class.
For now, shes focused on ensuring people have reliable birth control so they never have that problem.
[But] the law puts this on the forefront of a lot of peoples minds.
… Theyre slowly changing their priorit[ies] when it comes to birth control.
A few hundred miles away, Laura* hops on a Zoom call from her apartment.
The 20-year-old uses an IUD for birth control and wants to go to medical school.
I dont know anyone whos been in that position yet, but it definitely causes fear.
Laura is an activist.
Opponents ofSB 8 say it will primarily affectyoung and disabled people, and low-income women of color.
What upsets Laura most about the law is that anybody can file a lawsuit to enforce it.
Someone who is the rapist cant sue, but their family can sue, their frat brothers can sue.
She could have found herself in that position her freshman year.
Two weeks later, her period was late.
She took a pregnancy test.
Thank God it was negative, but it so easily could have been positive, she says.
That was definitely one of the scariest moments of [my] life.
Paulina also requested we omit her name to protect her privacy.
(She has an internship to work on geographic information system mapping and then plans to study abroad.)
She is due back on campus in fall 2022 for her senior year.
Its not just exam weeks [now], she says.
Its, Is my period going to come?
*Name has been changed to protect the interviewees privacy.
This article was originally published onOct.
