Abortions have dropped drastically in the U.S. state of Texas since the procedure became almost completely illegal in the state approximately five months ago.
Statistics from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission show that in the month after the state’s nearly complete ban on abortion went into effect, abortions in the state dropped from approximately 2,500 per month to just 68.
In June 2022, a U.S. Supreme Court decision returned the right to regulate abortion to state governments, ending over 40 years of nationwide court-imposed abortion on demand up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. In Texas, one of several states with a law criminalizing abortion still on the books, this meant abortion automatically became a crime unless the procedure was done to save the life of the mother.
The numbers speak for themselves regarding the effects of the abortion ban.
In July 2021, approximately 5,000 abortions were performed in Texas. Then, in September 2021, the Heartbeat Act went into effect in the state, making abortion illegal after a foetal heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks into the pregnancy. This first state law restricting abortion reduced the number of abortions in Texas by half. From September 2021 through June 2022, abortions hovered around 2,500 per month.
Once the Supreme Court cleared the way for the state’s near-total ban 0n abortion to once again go into effect, the number of abortions dropped again to less than 100.
The statistics were collected by Texas Right to Life.
“Overall, July’s data reveal the success of our Pro-Life laws. Legal elective abortion is no more in the state of Texas, and lives are being saved at unprecedented levels,” the organization said in a statement.
Of the 68 abortions performed in July 2022, only one was recorded as having been done due to a medical emergency and to preserve the mother’s health. The other 67 were justified as “neither reason,” meaning they were elective abortions. Texas Right to Life believes these were likely performed during a three-day window when a judge attempted to block the state’s abortion ban from going into effect.
The situation in Texas is not unique. According to a report released on October 28 by the Society of Family Planning, a research group that supports abortion rights, states where tight abortion restrictions went into effect in July all saw abortion numbers plummet by 95%. Nationally, the number of abortions fell by 6% from April to August of 2022.
In the same time period, states where abortion is still widely available and that border states with abortion bans saw the number of abortions performed increase. In North Carolina, the number of abortions increased by 37%, in Kansas by 36%, in Colorado by 33%, and in Illinois by 28%. The use of abortion services provided through telemedicine also increased slightly, according to the Society for Family Planning.
The preliminary numbers show that laws do make a difference.
“However, we must remain vigilant at all times,” Texas Right to Life also said. “The abortion industry will seize every opportunity possible, legal or not, to continue waging war against preborn children.”
