The number of abortions in the Lone Star State dropped by almost 97% in the month after the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the trademark Roe v. Wade decision, giving the ability to regulate abortion laws back into the hands of the state governing body.
Roe v. Wade was overturned in late June this year when the court ruled against the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, confirming there’s no basis for the right to abortion in the US constitution.
Roe v. Wade reversal prompts a massive drop in abortions in Texas
This led to the biggest drop in abortion numbers in the state’s history. That’s pretty impressive, considering Texas already managed to drop the number by a margin with their 2021 fetal heartbeat law.
YES! Abortions in Texas have dropped from 2,500 to 68 in the first month after the reversal of Roe V. Wade.
— Jameson Ellis (@thejamesonellis) December 14, 2022
After the court ruled in the Dobbs case, Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the 1925 ban on abortion will finally be enforceable and in effect again, with the law banning the act from the moment of conception.
Additionally, any abortion providers in the state could be facing a five-year prison sentence if they continue the practice. It’s likely what led to the drastic drop in numbers, which is not to say Texans aren’t traveling to blue states to get one.
Communications director for the National Right to Life Committee Laura Echevarria celebrated the decision, claiming the continued work of abortion clinics up until recently was only due to the initial confusion after the decision.
JUST IN: Abortions in Texas dropped by 97% in the month after the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade, according to preliminary data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. https://t.co/9K0GeZYX9o pic.twitter.com/NpsPiXglYz
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) December 16, 2022
Life imprisonment for abortion providers
What followed was the start of two Texas laws placing further restrictions on abortion gaining momentum, allowing the state to criminalize doctors providing the highly divisive and controversial procedure within the state.
In spite of this, some providers continued at a regular pace, albeit only going through with abortions up until the 6th week of pregnancy, which also came to a stop once the 1925 law came into effect once again.
Additionally, Texas’ trigger law, which was passed as a contingency plan if the court ruled against Roe, came into effect this August, increasing the maximum sentence from five years to life imprisonment.
GOD BLESS TEXAS! “Abortions in Texas dropped by 97% in the month after the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade, according to preliminary data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.” Human life deserves protection. #1A #14A #NewsMax https://t.co/Tp7PJCvFPn pic.twitter.com/GDuTPnRzGb
— Joe Gooding 💯🇺🇸 (@joegooding) December 16, 2022
With such a drastic change to the punitive measures for abortion providers, the majority of them just decided to call it quits. This is an improvement compared to the effects of the SB 8 law being passed last year.
Data from the state shows that abortions dropped by 61% from August to September 2021, signaling that the Lone Star State was well on its way to completely abolishing the procedure, which is what it came to in the end.
Reports from the Washington Examiner show that a little over 17,000 abortions were performed in Texas in the January-July period. Of this number, only 14 were not performed within the first eight weeks of pregnancy.
This article appeared in The Record Daily and has been published here with permission.
