AUSTIN (Washington Insider Magazine) – According to fresh numbers released for the first time, abortions in Texas decreased by 60% during the first month after the state passed the most stringent abortion law in decades.
In September, Texas abortion doctors recorded roughly 2,200 abortions after a new rule went into effect prohibiting the operation once heart activity is found, generally around 6 weeks of pregnancy and with no exceptions for rape or incest. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission revealed the statistics earlier this month.
In August, more than 5,400 abortions were performed across the state. More data will be given on a monthly basis, according to state health officials.
The figures provide a more complete picture of the significant decline in patients noted by Texas doctors in their clinics over the last 5 months, during which time judges have consistently permitted the limitations to remain in place. According to ABC NEWS, some Texas patients have been forced to drive hundreds of miles to clinics in neighboring states or even further away, producing a backlog of appointments in those areas.
The Texas statute is in direct contrast with major US Supreme Court precedents prohibiting states from restricting abortions during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, it was designed in such a way that it effectively avoided such precedents.
Under the statute, any private citizen who brings a successful lawsuit against someone who administered or assisted a woman in obtaining an abortion after the limit is reached is entitled to a reward of $10,000 or more, which opponents have denounced as a bounty. So yet, no lawsuits have been brought by anti-abortion activists.
Abortion providers in Texas have admitted that the legislation is likely to remain on the books for the foreseeable future due to a lack of alternatives.
Similar bills have been presented in GOP-controlled state houses around the country since the Texas legislation went into force, but none have passed. This month, Arizona Republicans accelerated their efforts to make abortion illegal beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy.
It comes as the Supreme Court of the United States has indicated that it is prepared to modify or reverse the historic Roe v. Wade case in a ruling likely later this year. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion research group, if that happens, as many as 26 states might impose abortion-access limits within a year if the court allows it.
At least 12 states have “trigger bans” in place, which impose restrictions immediately if the Supreme Court overturns or weakens federal abortion safeguards.