Unfair Park from p3 apply during medical emergencies when a pregnant woman’s life is in jeopardy. Still, Seago acknowledges that for some Texans, the lines surrounding SB 8 seem fuzzy. Misconceptions abound and the me- dia haven’t always helped in clearing them up, he said. “Unfortunately, that misinformation is still out there, and it’s still being talked about, and not everyone gets this right,” he added. “And I think there’s some opportuni- ties for our medical associations to clarify that. They decided just to step back and not touch this issue.” But the abortion law has sown tension between some women and their doctors. Certain pro-choice advocates say SB 8 has also worked to criminalize miscarriages. On May 9, Texas-based community advo- cate Janneke Parrish took to Twitter to ex- plain that she recently miscarried without even knowing she was pregnant. After expe- riencing lower back and pelvic pain, she sought medical attention. A doctor asked Parrish about her medical history, and she told them she’d had an abor- tion in the past. The tone “shifted dramati- cally,” she claimed, and the doctor began barraging her with questions, including whether she’d purposefully harmed herself. “Intentionally or not,” Parrish wrote, “it felt like I’d become a suspect in the death of something I didn’t know existed.” House, an anti-abortion pregnancy resource center in Denton. Holding a can of spray paint, she approached the Catholic non- profit. The woman looked to her right and left, A then back to the right. Using white paint on the black front door, she scrawled in all caps: “NOT A CLINIC.” Beside it, on wall made of grayish stone and brick, she wrote in large purple letters: “FORCED BIRTH IS MUR- DER.” Denton police released video of the sus- pect days later and asked for the public’s help in identifying her. The incident came just days after Politico reported that the Su- preme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade, based on a leaked draft opinion. A final decision may not come until this summer, in late June or early July, and the justices could potentially change their minds. But the leak has sparked outrage among pro-choice activists and ignited pas- sions in cities across the U.S. Earlier this month, protesters marched to the Virginia home of Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the draft opinion. They’ve also demonstrated outside the residences of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts. Yet several Texas district attorneys, in- cluding Dallas County’s John Creuzot, have claimed they won’t seek criminal charges if the landmark ruling is reversed. The Supreme Court’s draft decision has 44 already weighed heavily on those working in North Texas’ Whole Woman’s Health clin- ics. One employee in their Fort Worth and McKinney locations, who spoke pseudony- round 3 a.m. on Saturday, May 7, a woman wearing a beanie and a face mask appeared before Loreto courtesy John Seago John Seago notes that not all pro-lifers are happy with the current abortion law. mously for fear of harassment, said it’s all been “a lot” to process. Right before SB 8 took effect, the woman, whom we’ll call Natalie, said it felt like a race against the clock to see as many patients as they could. On Aug. 31, 2021, at the Fort Worth location, they worked until just be- fore midnight. Patients waited for hours on end and staff was willing to stay for as long as it took. The following day, an eerie calm set in. But it soon became apparent just how much misinformation their patients had absorbed, Natalie said. The first couple of weeks post- SB 8 were spent clarifying the law and let- ting people know that they could still get an abortion. Some women who were too far along in their pregnancy to terminate at the clinic have even asked staff for advice on unscien- tific DIY options, she said. (Instead, Whole Woman’s Health offers to help with setting up appointments in other states and finding travel accommodations.) “It’s always worrisome when somebody asks those questions: ‘What if I take enough Vitamin C?’ ‘What if I take this random con- coction that I read on the internet?’” Natalie said. “We can tell them that we don’t recom- mend it, that it doesn’t seem like a good idea. But you never know what people are going to do when they go home.” Whole Woman’s Health is just as booked as it was before, but only around half as many patients are able to come back to receive ser- vice. Some people come too early, a day after they missed a period, and aren’t actually pregnant. Of course, many come too late. Natalie has also seen SB 8 backfire. Now, some who have doubt about receiving an abortion may rush to get one so they don’t miss that narrow six-week window. Others may choose to remain pregnant, but later change their mind before realizing they’ve run out of time. “It really does force the patient’s hand,” Natalie said. SB 8 has had other consequences that lawmakers may not have anticipated. In February, an Austin woman elected to have her fallopian tubes removed in response to Texas’ abortion law, explaining she refused to be used as “an incubator by the state.” Natalie notes that there’s not a typical pa- tient, but that the majority are already moth- ers who aren’t in a place to have another child. Plenty of people do want kids some- day but say that now just isn’t the right time. So, many must travel hundreds or thou- sands of miles for appointments, sometimes driving with their partner and kids in tow, she said. Yet surrounding states are passing their own abortion bans, and some clinics have become overwhelmed by the influx of out-of-state patients. The more copycat laws on the books, the farther abortion-seekers will have to go. Earlier this month, Oklahoma’s governor signed into law a similar abortion ban, which took effect immediately. But Natalie notes that at one point, the McKinney loca- tion would actually see Oklahomans in need of care — those who hadn’t passed the six- week limit — because their home state’s clinics were too booked with Texas patients. If Roe is overturned, Texas’ so-called “trigger law” would go into effect shortly thereafter, making the act of performing the procedure a felony. Until then, Natalie said, Whole Woman’s Health will continue to see patients. After that, they’ll help in any way they can, including by providing ultrasounds so that Texans can know what to do next. “The need isn’t going to go away at all,” she said. “It’s just the amount of people who are going to have to travel out of state, or pa- tients who are going to try and figure it out on their own.” hormonal disorder that causes small cysts to appear on the edges of enlarged ovaries. While she was in the hospital, Julianna’s doctor told her it’d be hard for her to ever have kids. The way that conversation went left her feeling like her body was just a means to an end. “Every time someone talked to me about S it, it was almost like they felt like my reason for living was over. If I can’t be a mother, then what value can I provide?” Julianna said. “So I’ve always been very pro-choice because I feel like women, and people in general, are so often just seen as vessels.” On top of having a hormonal disorder, the 19-year-old is diabetic, so her health could be jeopardized if she were to ever get preg- nant. Reproductive health care has always been important to Julianna, and she wants people to understand that her life isn’t over just because she can’t physically have kids. That experience helped lay the ground- work for Julianna to become a pro-choice activist, and she’s now the political strategy coordinator for an organization called Gen- Z for Change. Last year, Julianna launched a viral TikTok challenge that took aim at one of the state’s most powerful anti-abortion organizations. Texas Right to Life had created a whistle- blower website so that private citizens could report people they suspected had broken the state’s new abortion ban. Days before the law was set to take effect, Julianna ad- dressed her social media followers with a call to action. >> p6 Olivia Julianna is a pro-choice activist for Gen-Z for Change. even or so years ago, when Olivia Ju- lianna was 12, she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, a courtesy Olivia Julianna MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 MAY 26–JUNE 1, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com
