america and abortion started to be banned in america? well, wherever you were today and whatever you were doing today and whatever it was like for you today, that s your answer. i d like to take a moment to share with you all what the final hours of legal abortion care looked like in texas last night. whole woman s health has staff and physicians providing abortions in texas until 11:56 is the time we finished our last abortion in ft. worth last night. our waiting rooms were filled with patients and their loved ones in all four of our clinics yesterday. we had a physician who has worked with us for decades in tears as he tried to complete the abortions for all the folks who were waiting in our ft. worth waiting room. marva sadler who is the plaintiff in this case was on
restrictions, every couple of years, more clinics in texas would close. by the end of 2013, so 40 years after roe, that one clinic in mcallen, texas, was the last and only abortion clinic serving the entire rio grande valley in texas. and i single out 2013 because thanks to the round of new restrictions that were enacted by texas republicans that year in 2013, that mcallen clinic finally after withstanding 40 years of restrictions, that mcallen clinic was no longer able to perform abortions. and so thanks to that 2013 law passed by texas republicans, the rio grande valley, an area the size of connecticut with over a million americans in it, had no abortion providers at all.
2014, as she said, as of 2011, there had been 44 facilities in texas providing abortion. by 2014, it wasn t 44 anymore, it was half that. 22. she told us she was in the process right then of closing two of the five clinics she ran including that one in mcallen. by the end of that year, by the end of 2014 in the great state of texas, a state of 30 million people, by the end of 2014, there were only eight clinics left in texas providing abortions. can t say you didn t see this coming, right? texas has been at the forefront of this for a long time. wherever the anti-abortion movement is going in this country, you can be sure that texas will get there first. passing new and inventive ways to block women from accessing abortion. no feeling at the court saying what must past muster, what not, tweaking the law again. that meant a two-decade-long roller coaster for health care
bull s-eye because you intend to maybe help her even if you don t? that s the way this law is enforced. civil enforcement. they designed it this way to evade the federal court system. this is unconstitutional under the protections of roe versus wade. it doesn t encourage people to hunt down people getting abortions and suing everybody around them. it pays them do it. if a person, again, any random person anywhere in the country brings one of these lawsuits and they win one of these lawsuits, again, could be against the uber driver, the court in texas will hit the person who was sued with a $10,000 penalty that they have to pay to the random person who sued them. plus that person s legal fees they have to pay. it turns every anti-abortion zealot into a bounty hunter. for them it s a risk-free, get-rich-quick scheme for hunting women in texas and anybody who dares help them.
all right. that is going to do it for us tonight. the hits just keep on coming. we ll see you again tomorrow, which we expect to be a totally normal calm news day. we ll just do feels-good stories, right? way too early is up next. good morning. it is a state of emergency in parts of the northeast as remember najts of hurricane ida cause flash flooding and tornadoes. the question is are these weather events the new normal? plus, the supreme court refuses to block a controversial texas law banning abortions at six weeks. with the law facing several challenges, the question is what is next in this legal fight. and a new warning about extremists preparing for a rally at the u.s. capitol later this month. the question is how are federal officials and police preparing? it is way too early for this.