Study says women will seek later abortions due to law,
Researchers expect more 2nd-trimester procedures due to law.
More Texas women are expected to seek abortions later in their pregnancies as the state’s restrictions on providers precipitate longer wait times at overtaxed clinics, according to an academic research brief released Monday.
The study, conducted by researchers who have testifified in federal court in favor of abortion providers, estimates there could be nearly 2,000 more abortions performed in the second trimester instead of the fifirst trimester if clinic wait times increased by 10 days in three metropolit an areas including Austin.
If the wait time increases to 20 days — which the study’s authors say is “not unreasonable” based on observations of clinics in major cities — second trimester abortions could increase by about 5,700.
The fifindings were published by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, a consortium of academics from schools including the University of Texas, which is chronicling and analyzing the impacts of the 2013 Texas abortion law, one of the most restrictive in the country.
The law requires clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers — such as wider hallways, new infrastructure and expensive medical equipment — and requires abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.
Republican lawmakers said the restrictions ensure a safer environment for women seeking abortions.
But the restrictions, not
all of which are in effect, have led to more patients at fewer facilities across Texas, which increases wait times and delays access to the procedure, says Dr. Daniel Grossman, one of the study’s authors.
He said the study expanded on observations of what happened as the number of facilities in Texas providing abortions dropped from 41 to 18.
“The situation in Dallas-Fort Worth is something of a natural experiment, where a large-volume clinic closed after the 5th (U.S.) Circuit (Court) decision this summer, and wait times there increased to as long as 20 days. If more clinics close across the state, these wait times are likely to increase further in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston.”
Abortion rights advocates have argued those restrictions were onerous and placed an undue burden on women seeking abortions, particularly women who live in poor and rural counties who must travel long distances to visit an ambulatory surgical center.
As part of a prolonged legal battle, those providers have won victories in an Austin federal court, only to lose when the state attorney general challenged the lower court rulings in the more conservative 5th Circuit Court.
In those cases, researchers for the Texas Policy Evaluation Project have testified in favor of the clinics.
Abortion providers have since asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. The law, set to go into full effect in August before the Supreme Court suspended some provisions, would have closed all but 11 facilities.