One abortion clinic in Texas announced it performed 85 free abortions in the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s destruction earlier this year.
Whole Women’s Health (WWH) performed the abortions at its Austin and San Antonio clinics as part of the Stigma Relief Fund effort, which many groups took part in after the hurricane. Collectively, the abortions cost $50,620, according to Dallas News.
Whole Women’s Health announced it would provide free abortions in September and made good on that promise by collaborating with the Lilith Fund and other abortion groups to perform the procedures. The organization raised close to $25,000 to cover travel and accommodation expenses in addition to providing free abortions — which usually cost roughly $480 — spokeswoman Fatimah Gifford said. (Related: The Number Of Abortion Providers Dropped Nationwide. Here Are The Stats You Need To Know).
“Texas doesn’t have a safety net, so we have to help people raise money for services,” said Whole Women’s Health CEO Amy Hagstrom Miller, according to the Dallas News in September. “Many of these women are traveling for two days and need support for travel and child care.”
“Abortions, just like the catastrophic effects of a hurricane, are never free and we, as a community, pay the price for their needless destruction,” said Texas Right To Life external relations director, Melissa Conway, in the Dallas News’ report after WWH announced it would provide free abortions.
Whole Woman’s Health abortion clinics recently failed Texas DHS inspection reports between 2011 and 2017, the Washington Free Beacon reported in conjunction with the nonprofit And Then There Were None (ATTWN).
“I was appalled at the state of the Austin Whole Woman’s Health. It looked more like a prison than an actual facility where patients went for healthcare. Disgusting does not do it justice,” ATTWN founder Abby Johnson said, according to the Free Beacon.
More than 220 abortion clinics between 2008 and 2016 — including six WWH clinics — were cited for 1,400 health and safety violations, according to a 2016 Americans United For Life (AUL) report. (Related: Abortion Clinics Are Crawling With Dirty Health Violations, Report Finds).
A federal judge also heard closing arguments in a WWH lawsuit concerning second-trimester abortion procedures and is expected to rule in November.
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