It is well known that women will seek and obtain abortions whether or not they are able to do so safely or legally. Recent restrictions on abortion clinics in Texas have dwindled the number of safe abortion sites from 48 to 18 making it even more difficult for women, particularly those who are poor, to gain access to these clinics. Instead, women in Texas are turning to alternative methods.
The Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) is a research group based at the University of Texas which has been tracking the state’s reproductive health policy over the past four years. TxPEP released the information gathered on abortions in Texas in order to illustrate the detrimental impact a recent slew of abortion clinics closures has had on its population.
Among the results:
- Somewhere between 100,000 and 240,000 women of reproductive age living in Texas have tried to end their pregnancy entirely on their own, without any medical assistance.
- the majority of women TxPEP surveyed were poor.
- A majority of these women were Latina, and lived close to the Mexican border.
- The majority of the women said they would rather have gone to a clinic to have their abortion.
With a case coming before the Supreme Court soon which might open the door for other states to replicate the sort of horrible restrictions Texas has imposed, the possibility of this trend growing is likely if the court does not strike down the discriminatory laws Texas has passed.
For more, read Think Progress “More Than 100,000 Texan Women Have Tried To Induce Their Own Abortion.”
