Wed, Nov 3, 2021
A new TxPEP research brief examines the initial impacts of Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) on in-state and out-of-state abortion facilities.
Following the implementation of SB 8, the most restrictive state-level law in the U.S., on September 1, 2021, abortions in Texas fell by half. No prior abortion restriction in Texas has been followed by this steep of a decline. The study compared the number of abortions provided in September 2021 to September 2020.
Several factors may have allowed patients to navigate Texas’ many other abortion restrictions and obtain care while they were still eligible:
- The months leading up to the implementation of SB 8 allowed clinics to prepare. In August 2021, there was a 28% increase in abortions over the number provided in August 2020, likely reflecting facilities’ expanded hours to accommodate more patients needing care in anticipation of SB8 going into effect.
- With facilities seeing fewer patients overall after SB8 went into effect, patients who were still eligible may have been able to schedule the state-mandated consultation appointment (required at least 24 hours before an abortion) and return for their abortion with the same physician sooner than had been possible before the law’s implementation.
- Patients also may have decided to miss work, school or give up other responsibilities out of concern they would no longer be eligible if they waited.
- Additionally, increases in financial donations following passage of SB 8 have helped patients living on low incomes cover the cost of their abortion (about $650).
The study also documented that wait times for appointments at out-of-state clinics that border Texas increased, indicating strained capacity as facilities work to provide care for a surge of Texas patients. Based on mystery client calls placed to facilities in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, TxPEP also found that wait times for appointments in September 2021 were longer in most cases, compared to wait times in July 2020 (the most recent data available), suggesting these facilities are seeing a surge of patients. Wait times exceeding 2 weeks were common at many locations.
“If SB 8 remains in effect and other states, such as Oklahoma, implement more restrictive laws, the impacts of travel burdens will be uneven,” said Dr. Samuel Dickman, an affiliate at the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin. “Among those most affected will be minors who cannot involve a parent in their care, immigrant families who fear encounters with police and border enforcement, parents who have limited childcare options, and people living in poverty. In Texas, those with lower incomes are disproportionately Black, Latinx, and other people of color.”