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‘They Don’t Understand That We’re Real People’

The new Texas abortion law — the country’s most restrictive — is already having an impact in the state and elsewhere.

sabrina tavernise

From The New York Times, I’m Sabrina Tavernise. This is The Daily.

archived recording

Tonight the most restrictive abortion law in the country has gone into effect in Texas. The Texas rule bans abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity before many women know they’re pregnant.

sabrina tavernise

A month ago, on September 1st, Texas adopted a controversial law that effectively bans abortion in the country’s second largest state.

archived recording

Breaking news tonight. The U.S. Supreme Court will not block the new Texas law that bans —

sabrina tavernise

The law has faced multiple challenges in court —

archived recording

The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to block the new Texas abortion law.

sabrina tavernise

— including by the federal government. But so far, the law has survived, and it is already having an effect. Today, my colleague Clare Toeniskoetter and I on how the most restrictive law in the country is changing the map on abortion. It’s Friday, October 1st.

clare toeniskoetter

Can you describe what we’re seeing?

sabrina tavernise

We are driving through a series of endless stoplights on a really straight road with no hills out toward the clinic.

clare toeniskoetter

What time is it?

sabrina tavernise

It’s 7:35 in the morning.

sabrina tavernise

Last week, Clare and I traveled to Oklahoma City to go to one of Oklahoma’s four abortion clinics.

clare toeniskoetter

It’s supposed to be 99 degrees today.

sabrina tavernise

It does not feel like it, but I guess that’s the Plains states for you.

clare toeniskoetter

Yeah. Pulling up.

sabrina tavernise

Oh, great. You, too.

sabrina tavernise

We arrived on a hot, sunny Monday morning.

clare toeniskoetter

Sabrina, tell me where we’re at.

sabrina tavernise

We’re standing on the lawn of an abortion clinic called Trust Women. Building is brick, single story, pretty nondescript. It could be a dentist office. It has some security cameras and a really tall wooden fence that goes all around the property. And we’re here to see what the effect of the Texas abortion law has been — the one that began September 1st. Because this clinic is only about three hours north of Dallas. It’s one of the closest clinics to Texas that women could go to.

sabrina tavernise

We knew that because this clinic was so close to the Texas border, it would see an increase in patients. So we wanted to see how this law was affecting women and their calculations for whether to get an abortion.

clare toeniskoetter

Let’s go inside.

sabrina tavernise

Yeah, let’s go in.

sabrina tavernise

We head through a little vestibule, past an armed guard watching security cameras and checking bags, into what looks like a typical doctor’s office. There’s a large waiting room with magazine racks on the walls and soft music playing and about a dozen chairs. And a reception area behind a glass window.

[side conversation]

health care worker

OK what were your questions?

sabrina tavernise

Inside, four women are already busy answering phone calls. One of those women —

jennifer reince

Hi, it’s nice to meet you!

sabrina tavernise

— is Jennifer Reince.

clare toeniskoetter

Is this a normal amount of calls?

jennifer reince

After September 1st, yes. It was like a light had been flipped. We had every line lit up for almost eight hours straight.

clare toeniskoetter

How many calls do you get a day?

jennifer reince

Before it was — I mean, there were really slow days. We’d be 15 calls a day, 20 calls a day. And then, I’m telling you, September 1st rolled around. And it was just like all hell broke loose. Probably 60 to 80.

sabrina tavernise

What’s that like?

jennifer reince

It’s hard but — I mean, I have to I have to stop and take a breath and tell myself, like, you’re one person. You’re doing as much as you can, and you just have to take a breath and remember that. And then I can move on. But like I’ll just try to take on too much.

health care worker

All right, how can I help you?

sabrina tavernise

On these calls, Jennifer and her colleagues answer questions about the procedure itself.

health care worker

And are you wanting the surgical or medication option?

sabrina tavernise

The clinic offers two kinds of abortions. Medication abortion — pills that terminate a pregnancy up to 11 weeks — and surgical abortions, which are offered up to 21 weeks and six days.

health care worker

OK so the cost of your procedure is going to be $650, we require —

sabrina tavernise

Other calls are about the price, which ranges from $650 for the earliest stages of pregnancy, to about $2300 for the latest.

health care worker

Payment plans, no, but we do offer funding.

sabrina tavernise

Some calls are about funding. In almost all cases in Oklahoma abortion is not covered by insurance, and the clinic has a list of organizations that women can contact to ask about funding. And now, when a caller is ready to schedule an appointment, she has to wait.

health care worker

Our next available appointment would be October 14 and 15.

sabrina tavernise

Because since the Texas law went into effect, this clinic is completely booked and is scheduling appointments several weeks out.

health care worker

No problem.

jennifer reince

That’s the hard part right now. We’re so capped out on our surgeries right now that they are looking at three or four weeks before we’d be able to get them back in.

sabrina tavernise

And there’s only so many patients the clinic can take, because they don’t have full time doctors on staff. Their doctors actually come from out of state.

clare toeniskoetter

Do you know where all the different doctors are flying in from?

jennifer reince

Let’s see, we have Dallas, Florida. She’s in California, she goes to the Kansas clinic and here. So she’s —

sabrina tavernise

This is typical. Clinics in states that restrict abortion often struggle to hire local doctors. The social stigma can be strong, and there are also concerns about safety. So clinics like this one rely on doctors who fly in for a few days at a time.

clare toeniskoetter

And how does it feel to you, living here, working here, that the doctors all fly in from out of state?

jennifer reince

I think it’s, think it’s sad that we live somewhere that doctors don’t feel safe enough to live and work in a state. I think it’s ridiculous though, because all these doctors have full time jobs other places too. So it’s not like they’re just like, oh, I only have to work two days a week and that’s in Oklahoma City. Like they go work full time, come here, and then go back to their full time job again

sabrina tavernise

Over the next few months they have five different doctors scheduled, and they’re trying to get them to come in more often to accommodate all the Texas patients.

jennifer reince

One of the other doctors tried adding another day here and this one was added for sure because of it, these two were added because of it.

clare toeniskoetter

And “because of it” meaning, because of Texas?

jennifer reince

Yes, yes yes.

sabrina tavernise

And as we’re talking to Jennifer one of her co-workers, Amenthia Carrion, takes a call.

amenthia carrion

Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry. OK.

OK, so we would not be able to get you in here in Oklahoma until the 14th. 18, 19, 20, 21. And so the 14th and the 15th, and so by then you’ll probably already be 21 weeks. So what my options that I would give you would be, we have a sister clinic in Wichita, Kansas. And their waiting list is a lot shorter than ours. They may be able to get you in next week. Or I know Colorado and New Mexico as well. I could give you the numbers to them as well.

But I know with all three of those locations, they do help with funding. And I know there’s three places right now in Texas that are helping people with funding to get to their abortions.

Mm-hmm. Where are you located at?

Would you be interested in maybe trying to schedule at our Kansas location in Wichita, Kansas?

health care worker

Just have a seat for me, it’ll be like two seconds. I’ll call you back up to payment, OK?

sabrina tavernise

Amenthia, that was, was that a patient that was like, the October 14 thing was going to be hard for her, right?

amenthia carrion

Yeah, it would have put her over. She’s 18 weeks since a couple of days today. So if she was to come in October 14, because it would be a two-day procedure, so she’s 18 right now. 19, 20, 21, 22. 6, so —

sabrina tavernise

So she was basically out of time.

amenthia carrion

Yeah.

background chatter

And what is your — right here. So it says it’s going to be done in the consultation session. Don’t believe it you’re just going to do it now.

amenthia carrion

There was a girl a couple of weeks back, that pretty much she was just crying on the phone and because we weren’t able to get her in. And I don’t think she had somebody to help her take care of the child that she already had. And when she did finally find a caretaker and somebody to drive, the date that they were able to, we weren’t available for clinic. And she was like — excuse my language — she’s like, I guess I’m just pretty much [EXPLETIVE] stuck and nobody’s going to be able to help me. And she was just bawling on the phone and you just feel kind of helpless in situations like that.

sabrina tavernise

This is a real moment for abortion in America. In the past four years that I’ve been covering it, I’ve seen states in the South, in the Midwest, restrict access pretty dramatically, which means abortion clinics have been closing. And women are now having to travel longer distances to get to a clinic. At the highest level, the Supreme Court is about to hear an abortion case from Mississippi. It’s the first argument of an abortion case before the court with all three of former President Trump’s appointees in place. And there’s a chance that it will erase the federal protection for abortion altogether.

But for women in Texas who want abortions, at least for now, that protection is effectively already gone.

So that morning at the clinic there were 48 patients on the schedule.

clare toeniskoetter

Hi.

sarah

Hello.

sabrina tavernise

Thank you so much for talking to us.

sabrina tavernise

And one of them agreed to talk to us.

clare toeniskoetter

Tell me your name.

sarah

My name is Sarah.

sabrina tavernise

And tell me how old you are, Sarah.

sarah

I’m 21.

sabrina tavernise

A young woman named Sarah, who asked that her last name not be used.

sabrina tavernise

Is it weird if I just sit down on the ground?

sarah

No.

sabrina tavernise

She’s wearing a gray t-shirt with an outline of Texas on it. She has an IV in her arm, and she’s waiting to have an abortion.

sabrina tavernise

Sarah, where did you come from this morning?

sarah

I live in Dallas, so we drove up here yesterday.

sabrina tavernise

She came from Dallas the day before.

sabrina tavernise

How far of a drive was it? What time did you start yesterday?

sarah

Three hours. We left at like 2:30-ish.

sabrina tavernise

With her boyfriend who’s a police officer.

sabrina tavernise

Tell us a little bit about your background.

sarah

So yeah, I grew up in Texas. Both of my parents died when I was very young, so I don’t have that support system behind me. My mom died in a car accident when I was nine, and then my dad got cancer when I was 19. So I’ve been on my own for a while. And it’s pretty hard having to — because this is honestly probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through. And to have to go through it without them has been hard.

Um, oh, I’m sorry.

[DEEP BREATH]

So I was putting my way through college until Covid happened.

sabrina tavernise

Last year, Sarah was paying for college courses to do a criminal justice degree. But then took some time off during Covid and hadn’t gone back to her studies yet.

sarah

Roofing, I do roofing.

sabrina tavernise

And that’s when she got a job for a roofing company.

sabrina tavernise

Do you yourself go up and do the roofing?

sarah

Well no, I go up and I assess the storm damage. But I do have to climb on top of roofs and then get on top of them if there’s any damage and whatnot. So, yeah.

sabrina tavernise

She goes up on top of roofs and does inspections for insurance after storms.

sarah

I actually used to work at the airport, and he’s a police officer for the airport.

sabrina tavernise

She’s been dating her boyfriend for about a year.

sarah

I worked for a private security company —

sabrina tavernise

They met at the Dallas airport, where she was working for a security company. And he kept finding ways to talk to her.

sarah

It turned from like cute little work flirtation to something, to the best love I’ve ever had in my life.

sabrina tavernise

And at what point, Sarah, did you learn you were pregnant? Tell us a little bit about your story.

sarah

So I did miss a period, but I’m 21 and that happens. So I didn’t really, I didn’t really realize it, I thought I was — my period was just kind of being irregular and that it would come the next month.

sabrina tavernise

So in August of this year, she misses her period.

sarah

I wasn’t on birth control at the time. But I mean I tried to practice safe sex.

sabrina tavernise

And she doesn’t really think much about it, she’s never been pregnant before.

sarah

And then it didn’t come the next month, and I was a little worried. But then she misses another period and so she takes a pregnancy test.

clare toeniskoetter

Where did you take the test?

sarah

In my best friend’s bathroom. It was kind of like, oh man let’s take a pregnancy test just to be safe. And then it turned out I was so —

sabrina tavernise

And the test comes back positive.

sarah

And I went, OK, well we just got to take care of it. We just got to, you know, I just have to get an abortion. That’s what I have to do.

sabrina tavernise

Immediately she thinks, I want to get an abortion, but she doesn’t have health insurance.

sarah

So I had to make a bunch of phone calls. And I found like a free clinic to go and get like an ultrasound.

sabrina tavernise

And the next day she ends up at a crisis pregnancy center. These are places that do not perform abortions but they do provide free ultrasounds. They’re typically run by people associated with the anti-abortion movement, who try to counsel women out of getting abortions. Sarah knew this, but she wanted to confirm the pregnancy and find out how far along she was.

sarah

And I understand that the lady giving me an ultrasound was just trying to be helpful but she wrote like messages. She was like, “Hi mommy, it’s me,” “Oh, here’s baby.” And like seeing that, and knowing that it’s right here, and that like — it was just hard. Yeah.

My counselor at the place did tell me, she was like, you don’t even have to worry about it, you’ve got time. In Texas, you can get an abortion at up to 21 weeks, and she didn’t even mention the legislation that was about to pass.

sabrina tavernise

Sarah finds out that she’s 13 weeks pregnant. So she thinks she has time.

sarah

I had seen that it was in legislation —

sabrina tavernise

She knows the law is coming —

sarah

— but I thought I would be like, grandfathered in, and I thought that —

sabrina tavernise

— but she doesn’t think it would apply to her.

sarah

— I would be able to explain my situation here, but the law that they passed is so strict that they have absolutely no, no loopholes, no ways around it.

sabrina tavernise

So then the law took effect.

sarah

I was thinking about going to New Mexico, maybe Colorado.

sabrina tavernise

And she immediately started scrambling to find an abortion clinic in a different state.

sarah

But this one was the closest, and —

sabrina tavernise

Almost a month later, she found herself here in Oklahoma, at six weeks and five days of pregnancy.

sabrina tavernise

How did you do it financially?

sabrina tavernise

She and her boyfriend split the cost of the abortion —

sarah

I did have to put off my car payment, so I could pay for my half.

sabrina tavernise

— which amounted to $1550.

sarah

Now I’m in debt and now I’m in a hole that I have to get myself out of. Yeah.

sabrina tavernise

How are you feeling right now, Sarah?

sarah

Very scared. Very nervous.

Not conflicted, I made this choice and I know that it’s the choice that’s best for me. But there is like a possible life forming inside me, and it’s hard not to bond with that. It’s hard not to make that connection. It’s hard not to want this. And I don’t think people realize that this is a really hard decision. And if it wasn’t like, if it wasn’t like, the smartest one. If I was in a better place I wouldn’t be here.

sabrina tavernise

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Good luck.

sabrina tavernise

At the end of the day, more than half the patients who came traveled from Texas. There have been so many Texas patients at the clinic in recent weeks that some Oklahoma women who wanted appointments were having to go to another neighboring state: Kansas.

We’ll be right back.

clare toeniskoetter

Good morning.

sabrina tavernise

We come back to the clinic on Tuesday morning.

clare toeniskoetter

A car just pulled up —

sabrina tavernise

And before the doors even open,

sabrina tavernise

— a red truck with a Texas license plate.

sabrina tavernise

Cars are arriving from Texas.

sabrina tavernise

Another car just pulled up, also a Texas plate.

sabrina tavernise

Patients come in.

louis padilla

Hello.

sabrina tavernise

And the first person they meet is Louis Padilla —

louis padilla

Hi there.

sabrina tavernise

— the security guard. He’s quiet and professional, wearing a blue uniform with a badge and a gun.

louis padilla

That’s what I do here, is I check people in. Make sure they’re supposed to be here. Search their bags, articles, whatever, make sure they don’t have any weapons.

sabrina tavernise

But when we ask him about his job, he opens up. And it’s a little bit unexpected.

louis padilla

I mean, I’m probably the only Catholic Republican that works in an abortion clinic in the United States. Before, I was just here for a job, but since then I’ve picked a side. I picked a side of the patient.

sabrina tavernise

And how long did it take you to come to the conclusion you’ve come to? That feel like you’re kind of solidly on this side?

louis padilla

After my first week of dealing with protesters.

sabrina tavernise

He says a lot of his job is dealing with protesters.

louis padilla

Regular basis.

sabrina tavernise

We saw only one.

clare toeniskoetter

aren’t they there right now?

louis padilla

Because we usually do clinic on Thursdays and Fridays. So therefore we fooled them today, they didn’t know we were here.

sabrina tavernise

And he says that’s because abortions usually take place at the end of the week. Still, he said, he can’t be too careful.

sabrina tavernise

Is there a feeling that like, maybe there could be danger or violence?

louis padilla

Yeah absolutely, because since I’ve been working here, within the last three months, I’ve had two preachers call me out to the corner wanting to fight with me. I had this old man pull a pocketknife on me. And I’ve called the police and all of them. And police, they kind of like, handle protesters with kids gloves around here. They really don’t care to have a lot of interaction with them. And then the interaction that they do have with them, they kind of seem to take a side. And it’s not our side.

sabrina tavernise

And he goes to great lengths — extreme lengths, maybe — to protect the people at this clinic.

clare toeniskoetter

Is this a drone?

louis padilla

It is. It is the newest high tech equipment that I got to watch the protesters.

sabrina tavernise

For example, he bought a $700 drone with his own money to monitor protesters outside the fence.

louis padilla

There is nobody that comes out here that is not documented somehow, some way, shape, form or another, if they’ve been out here.

sabrina tavernise

So if anyone ever got violent, he would have their photo.

But on Tuesday it was quiet.

louis padilla

Do you have an appointment for today?

patient

Yes, I don’t know how it works, it’s my first time, sorry.

louis padilla

Oh I’m just —

sabrina tavernise

Just a lot of Texas patients.

louis padilla

Check in at the front desk.

patient

Thank you.

sabrina tavernise

And around noon, one of the women he checks in agrees to talk to us.

samerah

I live in Beaumont, actually. So this — I don’t even know if you’ve heard of it. It’s a small town about an hour outside of Houston and —

sabrina tavernise

Her name is Samerah. She asked us not to use her last name. And before we even get to know her, she launches into the story of how she ended up here, starting with the moment she realizes she’s pregnant.

samerah

I found out I was pregnant at literally five weeks, five weeks flat. So I think I’m good, everybody’s talking about this ban, and everybody’s getting nervous. I’m like five weeks, I’m good. I can drive an hour up there.

sabrina tavernise

Samerah finds out she was pregnant early. Early enough to think she has time to get an abortion in Texas. So she schedules an appointment in Houston right away.

samerah

I go to my first appointment and I speak to the doctor, they say I’m a good candidate everything, you know, should be great.

sabrina tavernise

They do an ultrasound and clear her for an abortion the next day, after a mandatory 24-hour waiting period.

samerah

So I’ll go back 24 hours later and I —

sabrina tavernise

She returns on September 1st. That’s the day that the law goes into effect. But the law still allows for very early abortions, before any cardiac activity is detected. The staff thinks Samerah makes this cutoff. The ultrasound the day before was quiet, and they bring her into a room for the procedure.

samerah

It’s a dark room, because it’s an ultrasound room obviously. They have a curtain on, like when you walk in, and you cross over the curtain and they have a bed. I know I was shaking a bit, it was cold in there. The gel was always cold when they put it on your stomach.

sabrina tavernise

And then they do one final check for cardiac activity.

samerah

I remember looking at that in a deep breath and she said, take a deep breath in.

sabrina tavernise

And the doctors hear something.

samerah

Doo doo, doo doo doo, doo — all you hear is the heartbeat. Whole room, all you heard is the heartbeat, strongest heartbeat.

sabrina tavernise

And they immediately stop the procedure.

samerah

And I just, in that same breath, all the tears came. Everything I had been like crossing my fingers about like just came out. And I bawled and bawled and bawled. And coming out of that ultrasound room, I actually ran into two or three other girls who had the exact — we had been some of the first girls to not have an abortion because of that. And we were all just crying in the hallway, like, what are we going to do it.

sabrina tavernise

Samerah is told that her only option is to go out of state, which is how she ended up here at this clinic in Oklahoma. But it wasn’t easy

sabrina tavernise

OK sorry, so start from the beginning Samerah.

[interposing voices]

sabrina tavernise

And Samerah starts to tell me about her life.

sabrina tavernise

Samerah, how old are you?

samerah

22.

sabrina tavernise

She’s 22.

samerah

My son is my world.

sabrina tavernise

She has a kid, a two-year-old son.

samerah

I have, I actually have had an abortion before.

sabrina tavernise

She’s also had an abortion before.

samerah

You can call me this, you can call me that, you can say what I am. I’ll be that. I’ll be that, but that was my choice. I’m comfortable with it.

sabrina tavernise

Samerah grew up as one of six kids.

samerah

My mom was in foster care from either eight or nine until she was a legal, grown adult. She had my brother when she was young, like 14 or 15. She had me at like 16 or 17. And my next sister 18 or 19. She was a very young teen mom. So she’s always expressed that all these mouths to feed and it’s not easy. And she was like, I get it done, because she always got it done. We never went to bed hungry, but I could tell it wasn’t easy.

sabrina tavernise

She was born in California but moved around a lot. By high school she ended up in Texas, where she met her partner.

samerah

Me and him, high school sweethearts. We’ve been — I’m a year older than him. So I met him when I was in 12th and he was in 11th.

sabrina tavernise

And they had their son together in 2019, but money was really tight. She was working a job in retail making minimum wage. Her partner was working at a temporary job doing road work, like repainting lines on roads and putting down traffic cones.

samerah

We didn’t have really much anything. Kind of just started from square one, and our main goal was giving him everything that he ever wanted. Everything that we ever wanted and couldn’t have. I mean, lights is on, water — hot water is. Like those are things that we were like, I want to do for him and I remember —

sabrina tavernise

Samerah wanted to be able to offer her son more than she’d had as a child. But she and her partner lived with his mother’s family. It was five people in a two bedroom apartment.

samerah

After giving birth to him I had severe depression because I hated that we lived with his family. I couldn’t — I’m not bringing my baby to my own house so he can grow up and relax. I can like bond with him in a private manner, that I want to bond with him. I couldn’t do that because they were family. You know how a family can be with a new child, they’re all in your face. Everybody has something to say about how you parent your child and things like that. So all of that was struggle.

sabrina tavernise

Then last year things started to turn around for Samerah.

samerah

This is when the pandemic started. And I got a callback for a work-from-home job at Apple, bless them, because they were the reason I was able to even get on my feet like that. And they started me at $13.50 which was — in Texas? Where minimum wage is 7.25? Yes, I jumped on that opportunity.

sabrina tavernise

She had lost her retail job because of the pandemic, but then she got a job at a call center that paid better and allowed her to work from home so she could take care of her son.

samerah

— had a deposit and first month’s rent. And we were out of there.

sabrina tavernise

And last November, she and her partner moved into their own place.

samerah

I couldn’t believe. We literally — I remember it, it was like everything is like a movie, I swear. We went into the house, I get chills thinking about it. We just sat just stood there looking around and looked at each other, and we just hugged each other. Like all you can hear is our baby just stomping around he’s yelling, “Mommy, daddy, I have a room!” He’s so excited, like oh my god. I remember it like it was yesterday. We were just — I let a couple of tears fall because I was just so happy. Like, living with other people is hard. So finally being able to have our own space, we’re free to do we want to do. We don’t have to answer to nobody. Like, it was surreal. And it was one of the greatest films, I felt to this day.

sabrina tavernise

You guys were building something for yourself, right? Like you had put it like a foundation down?

samerah

Definitely building. That’s what we always — it was meant to be together, like to build stuff. Like, we have a vehicle now and we’re able to go out and buy food. We can come back home or go to the park every day. Like, we’re just getting to a comfortable point in life. And to many people, that might not seem like much, but I’m taking my son to do things I never got to do. We worked hard to get a two-bedroom apartment for him to have his own space, because we never had that growing up.

sabrina tavernise

So Samerah and her partner settled into their new home with their son and their financial situation continued to improve, with her partner getting a job as a driver making $15 an hour.

samerah

Finally, like we’ve been together four or five years, this was our first time actually buying a brand new out the box mattress. It’s not off of like Facebook or something. Like a literal, we ordered this. It has to sit up in our house and inflate kind of mattress. We were so proud of ourselves, like, we have a mattress and a bed frame on a box spring, is brand new nobody’s ever laid on. This Is ours! So we were so proud of ourselves.

sabrina tavernise

But when she finds out she’s pregnant in early August, she starts to worry about the life she’d built. The home she’d created for her son.

samerah

You know we’ve started building up a home in this apartment.

sabrina tavernise

She said she thought about what it would mean to have another kid.

samerah

But this is a child’s life that I have to take care of and provide for, and my rent.

sabrina tavernise

The financial costs —

samerah

Where my child that’s already here is living.

sabrina tavernise

— their ability to stay in the apartment and take care of their son together.

samerah

And I’m going to do that by any means possible. And if I can’t have another child right now because it’ll prohibit me from taking care of him the way I want to, then I won’t have another baby right now. And that was my main mindset. Like, I can afford to get him pullups at any point in time. With any of the money I have in my account, if I can spend the last cent of money, it’ll hold me over till I get paid again. I can’t do that for two. So that was my main thought. I have to be able to keep taking care of my bills and my baby. And if I can’t take care of my baby with the bills as well, I don’t need the other child right now, because why would I bring them into that?

sabrina tavernise

And so she chose to have an abortion. And that’s why she found herself in the clinic in Houston the day that the Texas law went into effect, finding out that she couldn’t get an abortion in her state anymore.

samerah

I ended up speaking with the counselor who was very, very sweet —

sabrina tavernise

And this clinic in Oklahoma seems like the easiest option. But it’s far away, an eight-hour drive.

sabrina tavernise

What was the most expensive part for you guys like what was the part where you were looking at it and thinking, oh, that’s going to be really hard?

samerah

Getting to Oklahoma, literally. We have a vehicle, but it’s not the most reliable vehicle. So it’s one of those cars you can drive in town, I can get to work and get back home. But it’s not something where you would trust taking your two-year-old and yourself on an eight-hour drive to a whole other state. So that right there became like the biggest challenge. Like, how are we even going to get out here?

And then, what about managing having a two year old out there? There were so many little things that were adding up. And it was so stressful. It was like, we’re going to have to just have this baby. Like, we can’t get to Oklahoma.

With our family, our upbringing, our background like, it’s just low-income. It’s poverty, you say. Our families aren’t people that we could just call and ask for money for a plane ticket. Can’t call them and say, hey, I can’t tell you what I’m doing but I really need this money right now. Like when you have family like that, or loved ones like that who would love to help you, but they can’t, that’s just is what it is. And if they can help you, they want to know exactly what they’re helping you for. Because they want to know if they get their money back, because they need that money too.

sabrina tavernise

Samerah doesn’t have the money to go on her own, and she can’t borrow it from her family. So she ends up getting some funding from nonprofits, both to cover her procedure and to fly to Oklahoma. But Samerah doesn’t know what to do with her son. She doesn’t have child care, and her mother and her partner’s mother both work 12-hour shifts as home health aides. They can’t take him. So Samerah’s partner decides to go with her to Oklahoma and take time off work. But when he requests the time from his employer, they don’t want to give it to him. He takes it anyway.

samerah

And they just let him go.

sabrina tavernise

And they end up letting him go.

samerah

Right now he’s without a job. So when we come back to Texas, it’s a whole other storm to weather through because of that. So when we get back home it’s like, it’s almost the beginning of the month again. Rent’s coming up, light bill’s coming up, phone bills are due, and I need to buy my child pull-ups. Like all of these things add up. All of these things cost money. All of these things are stressful. And it’s just — this is a mess.

sabrina tavernise

So Samerah was able to leave Texas and get to Oklahoma for her abortion. But going back to Texas, she’s facing a lot of uncertainty. And she’s worried about the life she worked so hard to build for her son.

samerah

A bunch of people who don’t have to feel the effects of those actions are making these laws. They’re like, oh you know, let me sign this here, and we’re going to have a meeting today, and here’s a photo op.

No, but there’s people like me. And tomorrow the day after, I go back home, not knowing what will happen in the next month. If I still have my apartment, if I still be — any of that stuff, you know? It’s just like, they don’t understand that we’re real people. We have real life going on.

I literally have a two-year-old that I like, I don’t — I’m not struggling to provide for him, but I’m providing for him in a comfortable manner right now. And if I had another child, I couldn’t do that for both. [CRYING] And I don’t want to be that parent. I don’t want to bring my kid into something that I can’t afford to take care of, because they don’t deserve that. I grew up in that kind of reality. And I know what it does to people. I know how hard it is, it can be. And I pride myself on being able to take care of my child. Me and his father do, we do everything in our power to give him everything he needs and everything he wants. And he never leaves the store without a toy, I promise he never does.

So it’s like, people don’t understand that we’re real human beings and we have real lives. We cry, we get sad, we have stressful situations going on. Nobody stops and thinks, if somebody can go in their state and get an abortion that don’t make things so much easier for them. Oh goodness gracious. Like I have to go home and figure out what I’m going to do in the next month. And like, the next month is in a couple of weeks. Like, what am I going to do, you know? What am I going to lose?

sabrina tavernise

After talking to us, on Tuesday afternoon Samerah gets her abortion. It takes about 10 minutes. And at the end of the day, she’s one of the last patients in the recovery room. And as she’s sitting there —

jennifer reince

I know it’s Covid, but can I give you a hug?

samerah

OK, I’m a hugger.

sabrina tavernise

She meets Jennifer, from the front desk.

samerah

So grateful for you. I don’t even have your name, what is your name?

jennifer reince

I’m Jennifer.

samerah

Jennifer.

jennifer reince

Yes.

sabrina tavernise

They had cried together on the phone when Samerah booked her appointment, and both remembered each other.

jennifer reince

How are you feeling?

samerah

It was super easy. No pain, just a little tired, but other than that.

jennifer reince

And you’re going to just feel so much better. And just know when you go home, it’s done. It’s —

samerah

Y’all made it so, so simple. Like, I didn’t have to ask a single question.

jennifer reince

Do you want me to give you your aftercare instructions? And we can get you the hell out of here.

sabrina tavernise

Jennifer reads Samerah her discharge instructions.

jennifer reince

You’re going to cramp, that’s normal.

sabrina tavernise

So Samerah can leave the clinic and start heading back home to Texas.

jennifer reince

Do it every eight hours as you need. Do you know how to massage your abdomen if you start cramping? OK. You can get pregnant immediately.

samerah

When I go back I’m setting up an appointment. I’m going to get an I.U.D. this time with my insurance back in Texas, so.

jennifer reince

Yeah, that’s perfect. Other than that, please be careful. I know you’re flying, but be careful. I’m so sorry about your state.

samerah

I just hope they don’t do the same thing to you guys.

jennifer reince

I’m nervous I’m getting. Luckily, with the Texas thing going on right now, it’s enough to keep my mind off of what could be happening —

sabrina tavernise

Later today, a federal judge is going to hear arguments from the Justice Department and the state of Texas on whether to temporarily suspend the Texas law.

We’ll be right back.

Here’s what else you need to know today.

archived recording

This vote says we are keeping the government open.

sabrina tavernise

The Senate and the House passed a short-term spending bill on Thursday, which would fund the government until early December a move that avoided a much feared government shutdown.

archived recording (senator chuck schumer)

It is a very, very bad thing to let the government shut down, but at this time in particular, where there is so much going on in this country. And it is, it is a glimmer of hope as we go through many, many other activities.

sabrina tavernise

The bill passed both chambers on a bipartisan basis, with 15 Republicans in the Senate joining all Democrats in favor of the bill. The spending package gives lawmakers more time to negotiate over a number of other bills that make up the bulk of President Biden’s agenda.

archived recording (senator joe manchin)

I think there are many ways to get to where they want to, just from everything at one time.

sabrina tavernise

But that agenda was thrown into doubt on Thursday when Joe Manchin Senator from West Virginia a Democrat said he would not support President Biden’s sweeping social safety net bill at the price tag of $3.5 trillion. Instead, he said he would vote for the bill at $1.5 trillion, far less than the president had been asking for.

archived recording (senator joe manchin)

My top line has been 1.5, because I believe in my heart that what we can do and what the needs we have right now and what we can afford to do without basically changing our whole society to an entitlement mentality.

sabrina tavernise

Manchin’s vote is critical because Democrats are trying to pass the package over united Republican opposition. And they cannot afford to lose even one vote in the evenly divided Senate.

Today’s episode was produced by Clare Toeniskoetter, Kaitlin Roberts and Jessica Cheung, with help from Daniel Guillemette. It was edited by Lisa Chow and engineered by Chris Wood. It featured original music by Marion Lozano and Elisheba Ittoop. Our theme music is by Jim Grunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wondery.

That’s it for The Daily. I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you on Monday.

Clare ToeniskoetterKaitlin Roberts and

Marion Lozano and


This episode contains strong language.

A month ago, Texas adopted a divisive law which effectively banned abortions in the state. Despite a number of legal challenges, the law has survived and is having an impact across state lines.

Trust Women is an abortion clinic in Oklahoma that is just three hours north of Dallas — one of the closest clinics Texas women can go to.

On the day the new law came into effect, “it was like a light had been flipped,” said one of the workers who staffs the clinic’s phone lines. “We had everyone’s line lit up for almost eight hours straight.”

During one day at the clinic, more than half of the patients had come from Texas.

We visit Trust Women and speak to workers and patients about the real world impact of the most restrictive abortion law in the country.


Image
Jennifer Reince, the patient care coordinator at the Trust Women clinic in Oklahoma City, speaking with a woman in Texas who was seeking an abortion.Credit...Nick Oxford for The New York Times

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

Transcripts of each episode are available by the next workday. You can find them at the top of the page.


The Daily is made by Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Annie Brown, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Austin Mitchell, Neena Pathak, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Daniel Guillemette, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Kaitlin Roberts, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Soraya Shockley, Corey Schreppel, Anita Badejo, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop and Chelsea Daniel.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Theo Balcomb, Cliff Levy, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Nora Keller, Sofia Milan, Desiree Ibekwe, Erica Futterman, Wendy Dorr and Elizabeth Davis-Moorer.

Sabrina Tavernise is a national correspondent covering demographics and is the lead writer for The Times on the Census. She started at The Times in 2000, spending her first 10 years as a foreign correspondent. More about Sabrina Tavernise

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