Women in Texas this week lost control of their own bodies.

It's the news the world definitely didn't need to add to its list of terrible things happening right now, and it's one abortion advocates across America worked tirelessly to shut down.

It's also one they sucessfully overturned years ago, just for it to be flipped back to the dark ages on Wednesday, when it came into effect in the state.

Watch: Is abortion legal in Australia? Mamamia explains. Post continues after video.

The new law bans abortion from six weeks. For reference, most women don't even know they're pregnant at six weeks, meaning that by the time these Texan women discover they are pregnant it will be illegal for them to have an abortion.

Texas lawmakers wrote the law to evade federal court review by allowing private citizens to bring civil lawsuits in state court against anyone involved in an abortion, other than the patient. So that means family members, friends, abortion providers and even Uber drivers can be sued.

The law makes no exception for rape or incest.

Historically, banning abortion has never actually stopped abortions from happening, it just makes abortions unsafe for everyone involved. Women will take measures into their own hands, via back-street procedures.

US President Joe Biden has condemned a Supreme Court decision not to block the new law, and directed federal agencies to do what they can to "insulate women and providers" from the impact.

While a dozen other states have passed similar so-called “heartbeat” bills, they have all been blocked by the courts.

The president said his administration will launch a "whole-of-government effort to respond to this decision" and look at "what steps the federal government can take to ensure that women in Texas have access to safe and legal abortions".

To shine a light on the reality of these decisions, here are the stories of 11 women.

Kendra Austin

Kendra is a writer, model and Texan woman who shared her own abortion story on Instagram after seeing the news from her home state.

"Experiencing wild pregnancy sickness, alone, and poor, I hopped in a car in October of 2018 to have an abortion in another state because I was too far along to have it performed in Texas," she captioned the post.

"Thankfully, my partner at the time could pay for it because I couldn’t, and in the midst of being terrified that my future would be ripped from me I had to figure out my options in a place where there were none."

While she says she is still yet to process the trauma from being pregnant without money and immediate access to abortion services, she's grateful that she was able to travel to get one. "Abortion saved my dreams. Abortion granted me everything with grief, relief, excitement and every feeling under the sun," Kendra shares. "Abortion saved my life."

@gracieminabox

A reproductive justice advocate, who goes by @gracieminabox online, has been sharing responses to the law change in Texas, to demonstrate the human impact of a policy change like this.

Here are just a few that blew us away;

Tonight I'm thinking about Chelsea, impregnated by an abusive husband she managed to escape from only days ago. Fifteen weeks.

— watch how much i can ignore your wit 🏳️‍🌈🐝 (@gracieminabox)

Tonight I'm thinking about Roberta, who asked me how often she'd probably need to change her pad, because she lived in her car and needed to find a public bathroom. Nine weeks.

— watch how much i can ignore your wit 🏳️‍🌈🐝 (@gracieminabox)

Tonight I'm thinking about Alexis, who was eleven years old. Seventeen and a half weeks.

— watch how much i can ignore your wit 🏳️‍🌈🐝 (@gracieminabox)

Tonight I'm thinking about Millie, who paid extra to come in on an off day so the protesters she usually stood with wouldn't see her coming inside. A little over eleven weeks.

— watch how much i can ignore your wit 🏳️‍🌈🐝 (@gracieminabox)

Tonight I'm thinking about David, whose pregnancy torpedoed what progress he had been making with his gender dysphoria. Eleven weeks.

— watch how much i can ignore your wit 🏳️‍🌈🐝 (@gracieminabox)

Tonight I'm thinking about Aimee, who'd been trying for fifteen years to have a baby, only to become pregnant with five fetuses at once, putting the health of all of them in peril. Ten weeks.

— watch how much i can ignore your wit 🏳️‍🌈🐝 (@gracieminabox)

Tonight I'm thinking about Kate, who was raped in her group home. Eleven weeks.

— watch how much i can ignore your wit 🏳️‍🌈🐝 (@gracieminabox)

Tonight I'm thinking about Caroline, who had not yet had her first period before becoming pregnant. Just over eight weeks.

— watch how much i can ignore your wit 🏳️‍🌈🐝 (@gracieminabox)

Anonymous Mother

Shared on Shout Your Abortion, this mother explained the logic behind her termination;

"Mom of 2 beautiful children (Age 4 and 6) and I found out I was pregnant with another child. I was sick, dizzy, and miserable for weeks before I opted to get an abortion. I barely got out of bed and fell into depression rather quickly. Not knowing I was pregnant until around 6 weeks. My body didn’t feel right. I didn’t feel right. My other pregnancies were much easier. My husband and I decided we were happy with our family the way it was and did not want another child."

Morgan

In another deeply personal share on Shout Your Abortion, Morgan tracks her two incredibly different experiences with abortion;

"I have had two contrasting experiences with abortions: the first was legal and provided by Planned Parenthood and the second was illegal in Eastern Europe."

"The first time I became pregnant I was 21 and a recent college graduate. I hadn’t found a job yet, my relationship with my college boyfriend was rocky and I had just experienced my first taste of freedom as an adult. We were not careful with birth control and I became pregnant. The decision to terminate was very difficult and I seriously considered every option, but ultimately the right thing to do for me and my partner was to end the pregnancy," explains Morgan.

"I received a medical abortion at ten weeks from Planned Parenthood and felt very supported and taken care of. Everyone from the receptionists to the ultrasound technician to the doctor made me feel that I was allowed to make this incredibly difficult decision for myself, and I was proud to be among empowered women who are working to provide comprehensive healthcare and reproductive rights to all women. The medical procedure went very smoothly and I was able to deal with the physical and emotional healing as efficiently as possible."

Her second abortion did not go nearly as smoothly.

"In contrast, the second time I became pregnant I was 24 and travelling in Eastern Europe. I had recently moved abroad and was still establishing a network of friends and a support system in my new city. I had learned to be more careful with birth control, but unfortunately this time the condom broke and Plan B also failed. When I found out that I was pregnant at five weeks, an acquaintance took me to her gynecologist who performed the ultrasound and who agreed to help me with an abortion."

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