Texas Abortion Restrictions

In Texas, the number of abortions increased 7% between 2017 and 2019 but decreased between 2019 and 2020. The Guttmacher Institute attributed the decline in part to the state’s near-total ban on abortion as part of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions early in the pandemic. Full Story 

Women’s health care providers are holding back when counseling pregnant patients about treatment options, doctors report pharmacists are hesitant to distribute some prescriptions, and OB-GYN training is diminishing for Texas medical school students. Full Story 

Fourteen GOP legislators warned Lyft that they’d seek to ban companies that pay for abortions from doing business in Texas. The extent of support for the idea is unclear. Full Story 

Texas’ anti-abortion movement is on the cusp of achieving a goal 50 years in the making. Now, it’ll be up to the old guard and new torchbearers to decide what’s next. Full Story 

In February, Cruz and Cornyn voted against a similar bill that was inspired after Texas passed its abortion restriction law. Full Story 

More than a quarter of women of childbearing age are uninsured in Texas, the highest rate in the nation, and the state has chosen to cap Medicaid benefits for new moms earlier than other states. Full Story 

Most Texans who got abortions in the state were in their 20s and 30s, and the vast majority of abortions were performed 10 weeks into pregnancy or earlier. Black Texans consistently had the highest rates of abortion. Full Story 

State leaders say expanding a social safety net for children and prosecuting abortion funders are among their priorities. “We’ll continue to do our best to make abortion not just outlawed, but unthinkable,” said state Rep. Briscoe Cain. Full Story 

Cheap regulated and unregulated medication is available over the counter at Mexican pharmacies, including abortion-inducing drugs that are strictly regulated in the U.S. Full Story 

Democrats are hopeful that the looming threat of such a stunning political sea change could provide the strongest opportunity yet to energize their voters heading into an election year in which Republicans have been expected to dominate in Texas and beyond. Full Story 

In this video, see what abortion rights supporters in Texas say about the impact of a likely U.S. Supreme Court decision that would overturn Roe v. Wade. Full Story 

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn visited Texas to stump for Cuellar this week ahead of his runoff race. The trip fell two days after Politico published a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court that favors overturning Roe v. Wade. Full Story 

Only 15% of respondents to a recent University of Texas at Austin poll said access to the procedure should be completely outlawed. Full Story 

A trigger law making abortion illegal would go into effect within 30 days after the repeal of Roe v. Wade. An older law could hold people who get abortions criminally liable — but it’s unclear whether it would still apply. Full Story 

Providers, advocates and doctors spent much of the day Tuesday reassuring people that the procedure remains legal until the high court issues an official opinion overturning it. Full Story 

Pregnant Texans have found ways to access abortion despite the restrictions, while clinics have pivoted their operations to focus on out-of-state care. Full Story 

The tight race between Cuellar, a moderate Democrat who famously opposes abortion, and Jessica Cisneros, a young progressive, represents the most vivid illustration of how the leaked opinion in favor of reversing Roe v. Wade could reshape a number of the fast-approaching runoffs. Full Story 

Politico said it obtained a draft Supreme Court majority opinion indicating the landmark abortion ruling will be overturned. Abortion is still legal in Texas up to six weeks of pregnancy. Full Story 

The full and often unchecked power of the prosecutor was on display when a South Texas woman was charged with murder for a self-induced abortion. Full Story 

The law went into effect in September, a week before Mexico’s Supreme Court dissolved a Coahuila state law that made abortion a crime. Now some Texans further along in their pregnancies are going there for abortion-inducing drugs. Full Story