Texas Equal Access Fund

Bowl-a-Thon Event Coming Soon!

TEA Fund — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 17:30:59 +0000

What’s a Bowl-A-Thon?

A Bowl-A-Thon is a fundraising event where participants ask people they know to sponsor them by making a donation to our local North Texas abortion fund, the Texas Equal Access Fund. Teams of 4 – 6 members will be working hard over the next 8 weeks to use their social networks, their creativity, and their plain ol’ gumption to blow the top off of our fundraising thermometer. Ultimately, on Friday, April 27th (in Dallas) and Saturday, April 28th (in Denton), we will all get together for a giant bowling party & prize extravaganza (free for participants!) to celebrate our amazing success at raising money to STRIKE DOWN FINANCIAL BARRIERS TO ABORTION ACCESS in North Texas!

Women face significant barriers to this legal procedure here in Texas, with numerous health and economic consequences.

- Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured individuals in the country.

- Texas has the highest teen birthrate in the country.

- Texas is one of the few states that has made sonograms a mandatory precondition for abortion. And this trend is growing.

- The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has stated that any future funding for the Women’s Health Program must exclude organizations that perform abortions or even promote or are affiliated with such organizations (such as Planned Parenthood).

What gets lost in the political clutter are the women affected by these barriers. The majority of women who request financial assistance to have an abortion are poor, uninsured, jobless, and already have children; they need an abortion because they understand that they do not have the means to support another child. Finally, 100% of your donation will support the women in need. The Texas Equal Access Fun provides partial monetary assistance directly to clinics that agree to perform this critical procedure for women who demonstrate an inability to pay in full.

Please click the link below to donate and/or learn more about this worthy cause. (Even a donation of $5 or even $1 helps – if that is what you are comfortable with, just click “Other” and indicate the new amount)

http://www.tinyurl.com/bowl4teafund

We appreciate your support.

State-Sanctioned Abuse

TEA Fund — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:18:34 +0000

And it “borders on the definition of rape.” Texas has become the model for many other states on how to completely violate and humiliate a woman who is seeking an abortion with a forced ultrasound and, in some cases, a forced trans-vaginal ultrasound. Our local heroic Dallas doctor, Dr. Curtis Boyd, speaks out against the atrocities that have sadly been put into effect here in Texas and is spreading like wildfire among other states. Watch this video for actual footage of a woman who is forced to receive an ultrasound and to hear the doctor’s verbal description of what is being seen on the screen.

Results from Pledge a Protester

TEA Fund — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:38:04 +0000

Last week Pro Life Dallas organized a clinic protest at Routh Street Women’s Clinic in coordination with the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. We called on you for support to pledge a certain amount per protester in order to counteract their efforts. And support you did! Our volunteers went out to count the pro-lifers, and the grand total came to 656 protesters. With all of your donations, we expect to make over $1,300! Thanks for turning mean tactics into a productive avenue for raising money for women in need!

Board Retreat, Winter 2012

TEA Fund — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:34:59 +0000

The TEA Fund board members recently returned from their first 2012 retreat this past weekend. We laughed, we cried (at some of the recent legislative updates), and mostly we buckled down and geared up for a new year. We have bold ambitions for a bigger and better year, with a fresh Executive Director, a new Advocacy Committee, and an abundance of great events. We think all of our supporters will be impressed with what’s to come. Thanks to everyone who continues to bolster TEA and all we stand for. We couldn’t do it without you!

Pledge-a-Protester

TEA Fund — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:47:13 +0000

Subvert the actions of antichoice protesters to support women.

Pro Life Dallas is organizing a clinic protest at a Dallas clinic this Saturday in coordination with the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Please help us turn the mean tactics of protesters into financial support for women who cannot afford access to abortion.

Here’s how it works: sign up on our website and pledge a certain amount per protester (for example, ten cents). A TEA Fund volunteer will count the number of protesters present at the clinic and we will then send you a bill. The total will be the amount you pledged times the number of protesters present. For example, if you pledge ten cents and there are 500 protesters present, we’ll send you a bill for $50.00. To give you an idea of how many protesters to expect, 720 attended the protest last year.

Thank you for supporting reproductive justice,

The TEA Fund

An Amazing App to Track Congress

TEA Fund — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 03:00:13 +0000

Keep track of Congress, including the latest in pro- and anti- choice legislation with “Congress-Sunlight Labs.” It is made for the Android but has a similar app with the iphone.

Some cool things it does:* Finds your representatives and tracks how they vote* Tracks what bills are coming up for a vote next* Searches for bills you want to know about* Monitors floor activity and committee hearings

This is a favorite app of some of our TEA Fund members and one we think you should know about!

TEA Fund Receives a $5,000 Grant

TEA Fund — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 02:37:58 +0000

TEA Fund recently received $5,000 from the renowned Twist Fund (of Common Counsel Foundation), a (start-up) philanthropic organization, dedicated to funding grassroots social change work in Texas and Oklahoma. Thanks to these additional funds, many more women will gain equal access to abortion services!

Dates Set for Women’s Art Exhibition Event, December 10th- January 8th

TEA Fund — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:30:09 +0000

What: Working From Yourself, For Everybody Else: An Exhibition of Women Artists

Where: Smoke and Mirrors Art Gallery and Info Shop

When: Opening night, December 10, 2011. Exhibition runs through January 8^th, 2012.

Why: All proceeds from the sale of artwork will go to benefit the Texas Equal Access Fund, a not for profit organization which provides funding for low-income women in the North Texas area to receive abortion services.
Suggested donation of $10.

Are you a woman artist? We need your work in order to create meaningful pieces of self-expression that reflect your current reality and to help other women. To submit a piece or pieces please email an average quality photo of your intended piece(s) to smokeandmirrorsdallas@gmail.com or mail them to 1920 N. Haskell Avenue, Dallas, TX 75204. Any questions regarding the exhibition should be directed to smokeandmirrorsdallas@gmail.com.

Last Day to Give $40 for Choice

TEA Fund — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 22:28:58 +0000

The TEA Fund has asked you to demonstrate your support for reproductive justice by donating $40 for choice. Today is the last day to participate!

$40 goes a long way toward helping a woman obtain the abortion she needs: a first-trimester procedure costs $300-$400. A woman calls us when she is desperate–when she has already sold her television, pawned her jewelry, borrowed from friends, and maxed out her credit cards, to name just a few of the ways our extremely low-income clients try to continue to support their families and obtain an abortion.

Your gift may not remove the protesters in her way, but it will help a woman follow through on the choice she’s made for herself.

Your money will help a woman in desperate circumstances afford access to abortion. Look here for your final opportunity to make a statement for choice in such an important campaign.

TEA Fund Weekly Round Up — October 24th

TEA Fund — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:10:30 +0000

TEA Fund supports equal access to abortion for women in and around our area of Texas. The goal of this blog is to keep you engaged in TEA Fund and what affects our mission. We post on relevant legislation, news, and events, so please keep reading!

$40 for Choice/40 Days for Life

The TEA Fund asks you to demonstrate your support for reproductive justice by donating $40 for choice. Your money will help a woman in desperate circumstances afford access to abortion. Look to our past blog post for how this campaign will stand as a form of protest against the bullying of anti-abortionists.

Call for Submissions from Women Artisans

Working From Yourself, For Everybody Else: An Exhibition of Women Artists will be a thirty-day long art exhibition at Smoke and Mirrors Art Gallery and Info Shop– with opening day planned for December 10, 2011. We are seeking works of art from women artists in the area in an effort to empower your vision to create meaningful pieces of self-expression that reflect your current reality. All proceeds from the sale of artwork will go to benefit the Texas Equal Access Fund. Look here details on how to submit!

TX’s Abstinence-Only Doesn’t Work (surprise)

It probably comes as no shocker to you, but now there is further proof (link) that sex education sans, well, the sex, has not worked for us. Furthermore, this failed policy is catching on nationally.

Sonogram Law on Hold but Slashing Women’s Healthcare isn’t

We’ve talked about the Sonogram Bill (past blog) recently, and luckily while pending in court, it will not be able to take full effect. However, what aren’t pending are the jaw-dropping cuts to women’s healthcare. “Lawmakers slashed a whopping two-thirds – almost $67 million – of state dollars available for contraception and reproductive healthcare for poor women.” This will lead to the closing of clinics statewide, including a projected 7 in North Texas. And that’s just for now.

Supply-Side Abortion Restrictions

Targeting the “suppliers” of abortions, such as clinics and hospitals, has proven to be a successful and relatively new tactic of anti-choice advocates. In Texas, it was particularly successful when implementing The Texas Woman’s Right to Know Act, which went into effect in January 2004, “requiring that later-term abortions be performed in a hospital or an ambulatory surgical center with staffing, reporting and facility-structure requirements.” Abortions performed after 16 weeks dropped 88% and the average distance to a non-hospital abortion provider rose dramatically. The trend has proven successful for other locations across the country as well.

Upcoming TV Series Focuses on Abortion

From the creator of True Blood will come a new show about the late doctor Dr. George Tiller.