Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas announced Friday that, thanks to increased donations as a “direct response” to the state’s new abortion law, the organization will expand its services, particularly for long-term birth control such as IUDs and funding for the departure of patients State to obtain abortions.
Elizabeth Cardwell, senior clinician for Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, said the organization has received a higher volume of calls asking about long-term birth control options since the Senate Bill 8 was passed. The new law prohibits abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The group sees “a much greater need for truly reliable birth control, particularly an increase in the demand for long-acting reversible contraceptives. As with implants or intrauterine devices or IUDs, we’re seeing this again, Senate Act 8, because there’s such a small window for patients to get a safe and legal abortion within the state of Texas, ”she said.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas is expanding access to health appointments for uninsured patients in 24 of its health centers in Austin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Paris, Plano, Tyler, Waco, and the surrounding communities. This expansion of services was due in part to donors, Cardwell said.
“With the generous donors we had, we were able to expand. So all of their services are covered. That was really important because our donors realized how desperate patients are to seek affordable care, ”she said.
Cardwell said the increase in donations was a public response to SB 8.
“It is definitely a direct response to Senate 8 law. So while Senate 8 law is burdensome and really harmful, especially to you, you know that those who have the least access to health care and may have access to safe and legal abortion, their window of time to access and their access options are so limited that donors have really topped up, “she said.
The new initiative provides resources for abortion seekers in Texas under SB 8. Specifically, Planned Parenthood will provide financial assistance to help reduce abortion costs and support travel expenses such as fuel cards, flights, housing, and other travel expenses. The organization will also be distributing take-home kits that contain emergency contraceptives, early pregnancy tests, and condoms.
“We have Travel Assistance Funds that help cover whatever they would really need so we can spend guest cards on the gasoline they’ll be driving. We can give them bus tickets or plane tickets. We can give them money for housing and food. And again, just to give them the help to get to the centers, ”Cardwell said.
“We’ve built a really strong network with other providers across the country, but they really had to step up, especially in smaller states, to cope with the amount of abortion patients coming from Texas to have an abortion.”
In addition to the service improvements funded by the influx of contributions, the organization’s expansion includes birth control including IUDs and implants, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, breast and cervical cancer screenings, pregnancy tests and education about options, HPV vaccines, UTIs -Treatment and, in some cases, localizations, sex-affirming hormone therapy. This initiative provides services to uninsured patients who meet income guidelines.
According to the organization, 64% of patients with Planned Parenthood were uninsured in 2020. Greater Texas Planned Parenthood had 93,602 patient visits in 2020.
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