Texas tries to stop abortion pills from being shipped in state as demand soars

What you probably already know: Conservative lawmakers in Texas are trying to stem the flow of mail-order abortion drugs. If Senate Bill 2880 is passed, anyone who makes, distributes, mails, prescribes, or provides these medications can be sued for as much as $100,000. Those who help pay for an abortion — even funding out-of-state travel to obtain one — could also face felony charges. Despite measures to restrict abortion access in Texas and other states with bans, pills are still being shipped by a handful of organizations operating under the protection of state shield laws.

Why? Shield laws are active in eight states — New York, Maine, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington — where abortion is legal. They protect licensed care providers from facing prosecution brought by states where abortion is banned or restricted, meaning organizations like the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (The MAP) can continue offering medication like mifepristone and misoprostol by mail. While this option is available to anyone across the 50 states, Dr. Angel Foster, co-founder of The MAP, said proposed legislation like the bill moving through the Texas State Legislature can create a “chilling effect,” essentially deterring people from pursuing mail-order services over fear of legal implications.

What it means: “Our mantra as a practice is no anticipatory obedience. We are going to continue to provide high-quality, affordable abortion care until we’re legally unable to do so,” Foster said. Currently, that means supporting about 2,500 patients each month, 95% of whom live in banned, restricted, or telemedicine-banned states concentrated in the Gulf and Southeast regions. Patients pay a sliding scale of $5 (or less) up to $75 for a two-drug regimen. State shield laws also have built-in clawback provisions further safeguarding abortion pill providers. “So the idea that Texas is considering legislation that has this sort of vigilante element where anybody can sue anybody for $100,000 — it's important to recognize that the clawback would allow us to countersue that person and recoup both legal fees and punitive damages,” Foster said. “Maybe that would dismay somebody who has no interest in what's happening from just randomly suing somebody.”

What happens now? Shield laws are still relatively new, but they’ve faced high-profile challenges in recent months. Louisiana filed criminal charges against a New York doctor accused of prescribing abortion medication to a pregnant minor, and a Texas judge issued the same doctor a fine of over $100,000 in a similar case. So far, New York’s shield law has protected the doctor from having to cooperate with out-of-state prosecution. Foster said that the deep irony in these states’ attempts to close the loophole is that abortion is more accessible in many places today than it was before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “That's largely because of the shield laws, and the fact that now people can get affordable abortion care and affordable abortion pills sent to their home,” she said. If anything, the biggest change is that medication has become cheaper. “The one major difference between our patient population and the patients who were getting in-clinic care in these states prior to Dobbs [v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization] is that our patients are receiving greater subsidies,” Foster said.