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Most Women Deny Abortion By Texas Law


In the months after Texas outlawed all but the earliest abortions in September, the number of legal abortions in the state fell by about half. But two new studies show that the overall number of Texan women has dropped much less—around 10 percent—because of large increases in the number of Texans traveling to a clinic in a nearby state or ordering abortion pills online.

Two groups of researchers at the University of Texas at Austin counted the number of women who used these alternative options. They found that although Texas law banning abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected or about six weeks later reduced the number of abortions, it was much more modest than earlier measurements.

Combined data, Supreme Court’s Roe v. He points to what could happen to abortion access if Wade decides to overturn his case. rules over another abortion law This summer. The data show the limits of laws restricting abortion. Still, it shows how restrictions create significant barriers, which will cause some women to carry through with unwanted pregnancies.

“The law did nothing to change people’s need for abortion care; The place where people have abortions has changed,” said Kari White, principal investigator for the university’s Texas Policy Evaluation Project and principal investigator of the new out-of-state abortion study. ”

But for the architects of Texas law, even a modest reduction in abortions is a feat.

“There is no hesitation on our part to declare this a victory for protecting pre-born children from elective abortion,” said John Seago, legislative director for Texas Right to Life, who was involved in creating the law. “We’re being realistic around here, so the best thing we can do is encourage women to have children.”

Governor Greg Abbott, Republican Who said He declined to comment on the new figures while signing the bill, which “ensures that the life of every unborn child with a heartbeat is saved from the ravages of abortion.”

While state legislatures await the Supreme Court decision and evaluate the Texas experience this year, many have passed new abortion restrictions, even if they contradict Roe. On Thursday night, the Florida Legislature voted to ban most abortions after 15 weeks. somewhere in between 21 and 26 States are expected to ban or significantly restrict abortion if the Supreme Court allows it. On Monday, Senate Democrats’ effort to convert abortion rights into federal law defective to get enough votes.

Between September 2021, when the Texas law went into effect, and the end of the year, an average of 1,400 women went to one of seven nearby states each month. according to one of the new studies, published on Sunday. That was 12 times the amount of abortion typically sought outside of the state before the law.

The study included seven nearby states: New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, and Colorado. About half of the Texans who traveled went to Oklahoma and a quarter to New Mexico. He counted Texans visiting 34 out of 44 clinics, so the total was probably higher.

an average of 1,100 Women were ordering abortion pills online each month from Aid Access, an overseas service that sends pills by mail while circumventing US abortion restrictions by connecting women with European doctors and Indian pharmacies. That’s more than three times the number of people ordering pills in an average month before the law. According to the second study published last week At JAMA Network Open.

Previously, there were an average of 11 requests per day. Soon after, this increased to 138 requests per day, reaching about 30. The study was unable to determine whether all drug requests resulted in abortions.

“The law is semi-effective; won’t stop all abortions,” says study author Abigail RA Aiken, who teaches and leads public relations research group She is studying self-abortion at the University of Texas at Austin.

According to various studies, those who do not have an abortion are more likely to be poor. Traveling to another state in addition to the procedure and paying for transportation, childcare and accommodation is expensive.

The new data cover the most common alternative methods to in-state clinics, but not all Texans who have abortions. An unknown number of women likely used other methods, such as ordering pills from online pharmacies that don’t post their sales. numbers; crossing the border into Mexico to buy over-the-counter pills; traveling to additional states to have an abortion; or using herbs or other methods for self-abortion.

If Roe rolls overthe same patterns may not apply nationwide, as access to abortion will be more difficult than for Texans.

Recent research has shown that abortion pills outside of official healthcare are accessible, safe and effective, and that information about Aid Access is increasingly shared online. But some women don’t know it’s an option. “The question that has been on my mind for the last 10 years is: How do you reach those who can’t find you?” said Rebecca Gomperts, the doctor who runs Aid Access.

Also, it is technically illegal to sell prescription drugs to American patients from another country without a prescription from a licensed physician in the United States. Although the application is difficult, Texas and some other states have expressly restricted drug abortion.

Without Roe, clinics would close in large parts of the South and Midwest. closures increase average driving distances According to research by Caitlin Knowles Myers, an economist at Middlebury College, and colleagues, from 35 miles to about 280 miles for women in the states, to the nearest clinic.

Research on past abortion laws has shown that longer distances tend to reduce abortions as travel difficulties increase. Groups that offer financial and logistical support to Texan women said donations dwindled after a coup d’etat as the law went into effect.

The groups added that in many states they will not have enough resources to help women. The remaining clinics would likely be overrun with patients. Trust Women, an abortion clinic in Oklahoma, is seeing 10 times more Texans than it used to. This causes a ripple effect. Rebecca Tong, executive director of clinics, said many Oklahoma residents were unable to get local care and had to seek elsewhere.

Clinics have sought to expand to meet demand, but said it has been difficult to recruit doctors, especially in Oklahoma, where abortion would have been illegal if Roe were toppled: “Some would benefit from a full-time job, and for what? “

At Hope Medical in Shreveport, La., two-thirds of patients, one-fifth before Texas law went into effect, are now Texas. The clinic used to do most abortions before nine weeks, but now most patients are in the late first trimester or early second trimester due to longer wait times for appointments.

“The result is that we’re seeing women whose pregnancies are more advanced because we’re so busy and can’t work faster,” said Kathaleen Pittman, director of the clinic. “It’s not just happening to Texan women, it’s happening to Louisiana women as well because they have to wait.”

Still, clinics are poised for an even bigger surge in the event of Roe’s overthrow, planning to increase capacity if abortion remains legal in their state – or, if not, to open state borders where it’s legal; offer more guidance through telemedicine; or offer pre-abortion care.

Kristina Tocce, medical director of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, said the influx of Texas patients provides a preview of a possible future and that Colorado, which is expected to keep abortion completely legal, could become a post-Roe abortion center. .

“What will happen when this happens in more and more states?” said. “I don’t know, but we can’t absorb the 26 states that have gone dark.”


Note: Our calculated decline in overall abortions compares the latest numbers with the baseline of abortion numbers before the legislative change. We compared the March-July period in 2021 to the September-December period in 2021 for legal in-state abortions and abortion pill claims.

For out-of-state abortions, we compared the March-July period in 2021 to the 2019 monthly average. (Early 2021 figures were not available.)

As the number of abortions increased in Texas in August 2021, we did not include this figure when creating historical figures in anticipation of new restrictions.



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