A new analysis from The Upshot “Most Women Denied Abortions by Texas Law Got Them Another Way” shows that overall abortions since the passage of Senate Bill 8 have declined much less than previously known, because women traveled out of state or ordered pills online.
Using Project SANA data on online requests for abortion pills in combination with additional research on out of state travel for abortion care, the piece argues that the total number of abortions by Texans has fallen by around 10 percent.
“The law is semi-effective; it will not stop all abortions,” said Abigail R.A. Aiken, lead investigator of Project SANA.
The article suggests that the same patterns may not hold nationwide if Roe v. Wade is overturned because abortion access would be even harder than it has been for Texans.