Texas abortion law could have 'traumatic' consequences for trans and nonbinary people who are forced to carry out a pregnancy, experts say

Abortion-rights groups and anti-abortion rights groups protest outside Supreme Court — Abortion-rights activists and anti-abortion activists protest alongside each other during a demonstration outside of the Supreme Court on October 4, 2021.
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Reproductive rights experts told Insider that Texas' restrictive abortion law could have "traumatic" consequences for trans and nonbinary people.
The text of the law does not explicitly refer to anyone but women.
But trans and nonbinary people would still be restricted from abortions past the six-week mark, one expert said.

Trans men and nonbinary people in Texas run the risk of body dysphoria and other health-related issues if the state's new abortion law forces them to carry out a pregnancy, according to reproductive rights experts.

The law is called SB 8, and it effectively prohibits anyone from obtaining an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. That's a point at which most people do not yet know they are pregnant. People who violate the law can be sued in court, which would likely result in a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages per abortion.

Abortion clinics in Texas have tried to block the law in court, arguing that it would prohibit care for "at least 85% of Texas abortion patients."

That figure includes trans and nonbinary people who have a reproductive system that's capable of pregnancy.

Under the law, people are unable "to make their own choices about their medical care" and bodily autonomy, Dr. Ricky Hill, a professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Insider. "I think it's a way to keep trans and gender-nonconforming, nonbinary folks out of sexual health conversations."

Hill said trans and nonbinary people are particularly vulnerable to body dysphoria, a mental condition that occurs when a person identifies as a specific gender but feels that gender is not perceived by others. There may be feelings of dysphoria if a transmasculine individual, for example, were to get pregnant and start to show physical signs of a pregnancy.

The law, SB 8, was enacted on September 1, and Texans needing an abortion have since sought out alternative ways to get one, like securing pills or traveling out of state. Some abortion providers in Texas have had to turn away patients seeking the procedure.

The text of the legislation does not use language that's inclusive of trans and nonbinary people. Pregnancy, according to the law, "means the human female reproductive condition" that "begins with fertilization," "when the woman is carrying the developing human offspring" and "is calculated from the first day of the woman's last menstrual period."

While the text only refers to women, the law itself is broad enough to eliminate abortions for trans and nonbinary people past the six-week mark, according to Columbia University reproductive rights scholar Carol Sanger.

But if a trans or nonbinary person tries to challenge that in court, they'll likely lose, Sanger told Insider.

"What they're trying to protect is the unborn child," Sanger said. "If a judge were hearing this, they would say the intent is to protect the embryo. It's less concerned with the gender of the carrier, of the parent."

Abortion is widely regarded as a women's issue, but that label is often not inclusive of trans and nonbinary people who are capable of pregnancy.

"Trans people, in general, are not included in conversations around sexual health," Hill said, adding that they believe abortion is a bodily autonomy issue, not exclusively a women's issue.

Data on trans and nonbinary healthcare is limited, Hill said. But there are studies that indicate there's a need for more inclusive healthcare for trans and nonbinary people. One study, for example, found that several hundred trans and nonbinary people obtained abortions in 2017.

The lack of data represents a vital knowledge gap that can be abused by a law like SB 8, according to experts.

"Being able to quantify something really does lend to credibility," Hill said.

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