Post-election protests have started to simmer in Texas but a record number of donors continue to dig deep into their pockets.
Planned Parenthood Texas has seen donations increase tenfold since Donald Trump became president-elect.
“In addition to that we have heard from hundreds of Texans who are asking how they can volunteer and what they can do to help,” said Sarah Wheat, the Chief External Affairs Officer for Planned Parenthood Texas.
The surge in online donations and volunteer sign ups is breaking records in Texas and all across the country.
Nationwide, Planned Parenthood has received donations from more than 180,000 people in the week after the election. That’s about 40 times more than the organization sees in a typical week.
“This is a direct result of the election,” Wheat said Planned Parenthood is going to need that money to face “the challenges ahead.”
Tens of thousands of those donations were made in the name of Vice President-elect Mike Pence.
As governor of Indiana, Pence imposed tougher restrictions in that state and called for federal funding cuts to the organization.
“I think a lot of Texans are looking for something positive, something constructive they can do,” Wheat said.
LGBT groups in Texas have also seen an uptick in support post-election and many of those donations are also in honor of Pence.
“We are absolutely deserving of equal protection under the law,” said Chuck Smith, Executive Director of Equality Texas.
He’s concerned that the Trump-Pence administration will turn the clock back on years of progress.
Smith said Equality Texas will continue to build support for the LGBT community in Texas.
“Or build opposition to any legislation that would seek to target any community for discrimination,” Smith said.
Advocacy groups on the other side of these two issues are also preparing to push forward in the Texas legislature.
President-elect Trump’s Supreme Court pick could send the decision-making power back to the states.
The future POTUS has said his Supreme Court nominees will be willing to overturn the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision on abortion-rights to return the debate to the state-level.
Texas Republicans were quick to put in several anti-abortion measures at the start of early bill filing for the state’s upcoming legislative session.
At Planned Parenthood’s health center in Austin, Wheat said, “We’re going to need every supporters out there to stand with us for whatever challenges are ahead for women’s health.”
Trump also promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurance plans to cover contraception.
“We are hearing from patients with questions about whether birth control is still going to be covered by their health insurance plan, whether abortion is going to be restricted and not legal and safe as it is.”
The Executive Director of the Texas Alliance for Life said he’d prefer to see people donate to organizations that provide “compassionate alternatives to abortion.” Joe Pojman added the pro-life group has not seen an increase in donors but he’s very optimistic about what will be accomplished in the Texas legislature.
Wheat said Planned Parenthood Texas has faced many challenges in the past and the organization is ready to continue that battle in 2017.
“Absolutely, Planned Parenthood will be here for your birth control, your annual exams, HIV tests, sexually transmitted disease treatment,” Wheat said. “All the service you count on from Planned Parenthood, we are going to be here today, we’re going to be here tomorrow and you can count on that.”
