With the conversations surrounding the possibility of a ban on abortions in red states like Texas, MySA looked at data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to see how common the procedures were done over the years. Specifically we looked at 2021, when almost 50,000 abortions were performed.
The discussion of abortion has always been a hot topic, but it became prevalent after Politico leaked a draft opinion that showed a majority of Supreme Court justices agreeing to vote to strike down Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion nationwide.
Although the draft isn’t officially overturned, Texans have been experiencing abortion restrictions since September 2021 after the “Heartbeat Beat” bill went into effect. The bill prohibits abortions as early as six weeks, before some people know they are pregnant.
In 2021, data showed 46,639 Texas women received an abortion. The number of abortions provided to Texas residents has declined by a third since 2008, a year where a total of 81,591 induced abortions were reported to DSHS. In the 2020 calendar year, there were 55,175.
Out of the 46,639 Texas women who received an abortion in 2021, roughly 30% were Black, about 27% were white, and 36% were Hispanic. Additionally, 39,844 were performed eight weeks or less after fertilization, and about 20,000 had previously not given birth. In total, 60% were already mothers.
The 2021 total, the most recent available data, does not include the number of Texas residents who received an abortion out-of-state due to the new restrictive Texas law. Data for 2022 is not yet available.
Early data pulled from the Texas Tribune indicated that the number of abortions in Texas had dropped by more than half after the new law went into effect in September. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, experts anticipate 26 states intend to ban abortions overall, according to the Texas Tribune.
