After decades of being restricted, abortion access is on the rise again in Texas, reports The Texas Observer.
The rise in abortions comes after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Texas law in June that many critics lambasted as unfair and draconian. This was the law that led to Wendy Davis’s filibuster on the floor of the Texas legislature. If the law had continued to be enforced, it would have shut down all but a handful of clinics in Texas. The decision will allow at least some of the 22 shuttered Texas clinics to reopen.
New FDA rules will also ease abortion rules a bit. In March, the FDA released new guidelines for a pill used to induce what’s known as a medical abortion. This development will allow women to get a medical abortion up to nine weeks into their pregnancy, instead of seven weeks. The FDA also reduced the number of recommended clinic trips from three to two.