I’m worried for my daughters’ future in Texas once it bans abortion. But we’ll stay and fight

For years, I have known that Roe vs. Wade stood on fragile ground. When a Texas law known as the Heartbeat Act took effect in September 2021, restricting abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, my fears were confirmed.

My husband and I began conversations about moving our young family to a more progressive state. Would it be safe to raise our two daughters in Texas, where their rights as human beings are on the line? When the decision in the Dobbs abortion case was leaked, we talked about our plans for the future again. And then — it actually happened. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The decision will soon result in a near-total ban on abortion in Texas, with no exceptions for incest or rape.

Our conversations became darker and sadder. We want a third baby, but I am inching closer to age 40, and that means more risks. If I miscarry and need a D&C to remove fetal tissue, could I get it? If I have a tubal pregnancy, could I receive timely lifesaving treatment?

Our girls won’t always be toddlers. If something terrible were to happen to one of them and she were raped and impregnated, would she have to go through with that pregnancy? Even if she was still a child herself?

Every parent hope that their children will have better lives and greater opportunities than what they have known themselves. That’s why it’s so heartbreaking to see the world seemingly moving backwards instead of forward. With my daughters waking up every morning to a world with fewer rights and more barriers, it’s easy to feel hopeless.

But I remember that, unlike so many Texans, my family has resources. We have the means to cross state lines and get the healthcare that we need. We will always have access to safe abortions one way or another.

The people who will suffer the most are those who are the most marginalized. The people who can’t relocate. The people who are imprisoned in abusive relationships. Teens and children, economically disadvantaged people, the oppressed.

People will never stop needing abortions. They will never stop needing life-saving healthcare. Moving away will not change that — except to abandon the cause. Our family needs to stay put and dream better.

In my dream, the majority of Texans who oppose the overturning of Roe v Wade come together and rebel against the minority who are making deadly decisions on our behalf. We break through the gerrymandered barriers that keep us silenced. The voices of those who have been historically excluded are finally ringing loud and clear and equality is on the way.

So, for now, we stay and fight.

Our first and easiest job is to vote. We are enraged and want change now, but the truth is that the big fixes that we want won’t happen overnight. So, we will be dogged. We plan to vote, to inform ourselves about our local candidates as well as state and national ones, and to get involved in politics in our own community.

But we can also help people in need right now by donating to local abortion charities like the Texas Equal Acces Fund that will continue to help people access abortion, even if that means paying for plane tickets or gas for their cars. We will talk openly about abortion and share information in our community and with loved ones about how to access abortion care.

We will be bold and unapologetic because we know that people’s lives are at stake. And our girls — seventh-generation Texans — will grow up knowing that all people deserve autonomy and privacy concerning their own bodies, without government curtailing this basic human right.

Helen DeMore-Callejas is a writer living in Fort Worth.