Current Intern of Newcomb Institute Co-writes MS. Article on Recent Developments in Abortion Bans in Texas

September 21, 2023

Val Diez Canseco is a Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health Intern and Newcomb Scholar through the Newcomb Institute. She is an editorial intern at Ms. and a sophomore at Tulane University studying international relations and English. She is passionate about reproductive rights, political frameworks in the Global South, and education equity. Newcomb Institute coordinates with local reproductive rights and reproductive health organizations in New Orleans to provide paid internships for undergraduate students.
 
The article “Our Abortion Stories: Two Years of Texas’ S.B. 8” follows up two years after the implementation of Texas’ S.B. 8, known as the six-week abortion ban with a “bounty hunter” provision. The state has become a battleground for reproductive rights. Last summer, the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade further exacerbated the situation. S.B. 8, one of two abortion bans in Texas, has made abortion nearly impossible. 
 
The other ban, the Human Life Protection Act, criminalizes abortion from fertilization, carrying severe penalties, including life imprisonment and hefty fines. The Center for Reproductive Rights is challenging these laws in the landmark case Zurawski v. Texas. “Our Abortion Stories,” a recurring column Val Diez Canseco bylines, sheds light on the struggles of Ms. readers fighting for safe and accessible abortion care.
 
 You can follow Val Diez Canseco here to read more of her work.