DALLAS — Texas Health and Human Services released updated statistics Monday showing the number of abortions reported in the state decreased almost 60% in the first month after new restrictions went into effect.
The state reported 2,197 induced terminations of pregnancies for September of 2021, following 5,404 in August, the last month before Senate Bill 8 took effect. Notably, in September there were only two induced abortions performed after six weeks of gestation, which the new law allows only under medical exemptions.
The data reveals that an October study by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project at the University of Texas at Austin showing that abortions fell by 50 percent in September was off by almost 10%.
Texas Right to Life, an organization that opposes abortion access, said in a statement, “the success of the Texas Heartbeat Act is embodied by every child saved.”
“For over 150 days, our work has saved an estimated 100 babies per day. Our impact is only just beginning as more states seek to replicate our success and as we look to the Mississippi case that could overturn Roe this summer,” director of media and communication Kimberlyn Schwartz said in the statement.
Another organization that opposes abortions in the state, Texas Alliance for Life, said in a recent tweet that the decline in abortions in the state “has us celebrating.”
Since SB 8 was enacted, women across Texas have gone to nearby states to obtain legal elective abortions. The Dallas Morning News reported that women traveled to Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Arkansas and Louisiana to obtain legal abortions.
The law has experienced many legal challenges. Most recently, the case by plaintiff Whole Woman’s Health was sent from the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to the Texas Supreme Court to certify a question of state law regarding medical licensing officials’ enforcement of the abortion law.
Oral arguments at the state’s highest court are set for Feb. 24. And despite the challenges, some other states continue to pursue legislation modeled after the new Texas restrictions.
Whole Woman’s Health declined to comment on the data released by the state.
In a statement regarding the new data, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas spokesperson Autumn Keiser said, “Every day that this devastating abortion ban remains in place means more Texans are denied the ability to determine when and how to become a parent along with increasing risk of poverty and negative health and educational outcomes.
“It is unconscionable that thousands of Texans continue to be forced to travel hundreds of miles out of state to Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, and other farther states to access their fundamental right to safe, legal abortion. Last September, Planned Parenthood health centers in surrounding states saw a 1082% increase in patients with Texas zip codes seeking abortion compared to September 2019 and 2020,” the statement continued.
Rep. Bryan Hughes, author of SB 8, said in a message to The News, “these numbers are proof that the Texas Heartbeat Law is working. Texas is now the first state to effectively stop most abortions.
“There is still more work to do, and in Texas we will continue to save the baby and support the mother,” he added.
Data has not been released for the rest of 2021 beyond September. The data is provisional and might be updated monthly with additional totals. The peak monthly total of abortions in the state for the year was 5,643 in March.
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