February 11, 2023

With the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the State of Texas quickly became a leader amongst Red states in its actions against abortion thereafter with SB8, or the Heartbeat Act going into effect August 25, 2022. This ultimately resulted in a 6 week abortion ban, the strictest in the country at the time. Along with these efforts, in a lawsuit brought on by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, an anti-abortion medical group, the common abortion induction pill mifepristone was under fire. The group filed the suit in Amarillo where the case would be heard by U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee and well know anti-abortionist. Ultimately arguing the approval process of the pill by the FDA was improper and that it should be revoked. Judge Kacsmaryk agreed. The case made it’s way through the system and it was eventually decided by the supreme court that the Plaintiffs did not have enough standing, with Justice Kavanaugh stating in his opinion that the plaintiffs can’t sue simply because they might “desire to make a drug less available for others.”

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These photos were taken at the Texas Capitol building after Women’s March called for an emergency mobilization due to the law suit being carried out in Amarillo. Thousands traveled to Amarillo and Austin in protest against the state’s actions against abortion rights. Met with religious counter protesters, Bigger Than Roe participants marched down the street to the Governor’s house to make their presence further known. As actions like Bigger Than Roe continued roaring in the United States, the Women Life Freedom movement continued building traction across the world in protest of the torment of women in Iran.