These Texas Women Want to Fund Your Abortion
June 27, 2015
“VICE: Where did the idea for the West Fund come from?
Raquel Ortega: In the summer of 2013, Governor Rick Perry called a special session to pass a giant omnibus abortion bill—the one that Wendy Davis filibustered, and that was ultimately upheld by the appellate court. Back then, young people in El Paso were trying to organize and call their legislators in Austin, but alas, the bill passed. A few students from the local URGE [Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity] chapter that I work for came to me, and they were like, this is so shitty. All these clinics are closing, and we don’t know what to do. Someone said, “I wish we could just give people money.” And I said, “You should! You should do that.”
Alyssah Roth: At that point, we started talking to other abortion funds, getting ideas, and in November 2013, we got all our paperwork in order and really started to take root.”
