That’s a 14 percent reduction in abortions in 2014 compared to 2013.
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This study is a part of a larger research project being conducted by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project that is seeking to understand the full impact of HB2 in Texas, Liza Fuentes, the senior project manager with Texas Policy Evaluation Project. says.
With no possibility that President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, will be confirmed anytime soon, the court might also split 4-4, which would let stand an appeals court ruling largely upholding the Texas law but would set no national precedent. It is her choice and not the Texas anti-abortion laws. But some of the more conservative justices questioned whether the law was really responsible for the wave of clinic closings, and whether those that remained open could not accommodate the demand for abortions.
Editor’s note: In advance of the recent Supreme Court hearing, The Christian Science Monitor examined abortion in Texas in a three-part series looking at those most affected by the Texas law, the ‘pro-life’ answer to abortion clinics, and how hard it is to get an abortion in the state.
Two Planned Parenthood clinics transferred their abortion services to facilities that comply with the new restrictions, and one additional compliant clinic opened in San Antonio in June 2015 – bringing the total number of clinics open in Texas today to 18.
What is clear is that about half of the state’s 19 clinics would close immediately if the stepped-up requirements for clinics become settled law. “The number of out-of-state women coming here for abortions has doubled in the past three years”. A lower federal court previous year ruled that the “obstacle” standard applies “within states”, meaning that states can’t force clinics to close and then depend on other states to guarantee abortion access. One study estimated that 100,000 or more Texan women, particularly Latinas in the Rio Grande Valley, have attempted to self-induce an abortion.
“Undue burden” is an incredibly vague term that’s used as the current legal standard to assess whether abortion laws violate Roe v. Wade.
For many women, this distance alone could be the determining factor in whether or not they go through with ending an unwanted pregnancy. Both types cost about $600 during the first trimester, more later in a pregnancy, and even if the women they serve had insurance, which many don’t in this poor region, it doesn’t usually cover the cost. If women miss their initial consultation, that delays when they can take the pill, especially with only two doctors traveling from out of town, and has led to more surgical abortions, Banda said.
Women seeking abortions in Texas face lengthy travel, exorbitant costs, and unfair wait times. Thirty-seven percent of Texas women who lived far from a clinic did not get the abortion they wanted.
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But the new data suggests that the picture is more complex.
