On Wednesday morning, Ryan Hamilton, an abortion access advocate who campaigned alongside Senate candidate Colin Allred and Vice President Kamala Harris, felt confused, angry and sad.
Hamilton’s voice emerged in the reproductive rights conversation over the summer, just months after the North Texas man had found his wife bleeding out on their bathroom floor after being denied care for a miscarriage because of the state’s abortion ban. As a way to cope with the trauma of losing a wanted pregnancy and nearly losing his wife, he started the podcast CORRECT, which explored the reproductive rights conversation with elected officials and medical professionals who appeared as guests.
When Allred and Harris’ campaigns each focused on reimplementing national protections for abortion access, Hamilton was brought along to rallies in Houston, Las Vegas and New Hampshire to tell his family’s story and warn of the impact of the Texas abortion ban. He became a “walking, talking nightmare tale,” but was happy to do the work because he felt he was “moving the needle” toward a better future for his young daughter and his wife.
After witnessing the election results, he’s not sure whether his advocacy work will continue.
“What's my reason now? Is it really going to make a difference? I hate feeling like sharing what happened to us and being a part of this movement didn't matter enough,” Hamilton told the Observer. “I feel so run down and just mentally and emotionally exhausted. And I didn't get to have, none of us got to have, that moment where we went, ‘Oh thank God, it was worth it.’”
Abortion access is a topic that has been especially steeped in fear in the election’s aftermath. Dr. Todd Ivey, a Houston based OB-GYN, helped author a letter signed by 110 Texas practitioners that urges lawmakers to reevaluate the state’s approach to abortion legislation. Colleagues from around the state and the country began whispering about the repercussions of a possible national abortion ban as the presidential race was called for Trump, Ivey said.
(“[A national abortion ban is] not where we are right now,” Ivey told us Wednesday morning. “We don’t know that that is what’s coming.”)
While the results of the election may not seem promising to reproductive rights advocates on the surface, Ivey believes that the number of state referendums enshrining abortion access that passed are a sign of promise. Abortion rights groups claimed victories in seven states — Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Montana, New York, Nevada and Missouri — through state constitutional amendments and laws. Although Texas did not have an abortion access referendum on the ballot, Amarillo voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposal that would have made it illegal for pregnant women to pass through the city while traveling for an out-of-state abortion.
“I think it shows that most people really support some access to abortion care,” Ivey said. “In Texas, the ultimate decisions are going to be determined by the state legislature. We've always said from the very beginning we want to work with the legislature to find some things that help protect women and help protect providers.”
But the election does cause concern for Ivey, too. Last month, Manatt Health reported that an alarming number of Texas physicians are reevaluating their choice to practice maternal healthcare in the Lone Star State. Nearly 1 in 3 doctors surveyed said they did not have a clear understanding of Texas’ abortion law, and 60% said they are concerned they will face legal repercussions if they practice “evidence-based medicine” when treating pregnancy complications. Twenty-one percent of the OB-GYNs said they have thought about or plan to leave the state entirely.
After the results of Tuesday’s election decisively favored Republicans, Ivey is concerned the state could continue to lose traction with maternal healthcare physicians.
“We're really out there on a limb by ourselves, and so I am afraid that the chilling effect will worsen,” Ivey said. “One of my biggest fears is that we're not going to be able to attract, you know, the best and the brightest. Texas has traditionally been a great place for medical education and medical training. … We're afraid that one day, eventually, our residency programs will not fill and then the numbers of OB-GYN providers throughout our state will decrease.”
For Hamilton, the path forward will be an attempt “to find a way to be happy,” while struggling with the belief that “America is broken.” He is also concerned about statements made by Trump late in the campaign about punishing his enemies, and whether or not he — along with other outspoken abortion rights advocates like Kate Cox and Amanda Zurawski — will face retribution for their campaigning.
“These people who say, ‘This is not who we are.’ I mean, this is who we are. Apparently we're racist, sexist and women's rights don't matter as much as the economy. More women will die, but that doesn't seem to matter as much as the price of groceries,” Hamilton said. “God help any woman who needs abortion care in Texas.”
