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Abortions Continue to Decline in Texas, and Nationwide

Texas Policy Evaluation Project and Whole Woman’s Health
/
The New York Times

No one questions that the number of abortion facilities in Texas has dropped in recent years. In 2013 the Texas legislature passed a law that, among other things, required abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. The law led to the number of clinics in the Lone Star State being reduced by half. Challengers to the law contend that the law is unnecessary and draconian.

Buta recent Wall Street Journal editorialasked, what if these clinic closures also have to do with changes in the demand for abortion itself? Three decades ago, the annual number of abortions began a steady decline. Today the abortion rate has dropped back close to its level in 1973. Other factors in the clinic closures could include the building of new Planned Parenthood “mega-clinics” and the fact that more women are insured today than previously, obviating the need for free clinics.

Even so, the fact that so many clinics closed immediately after the passage of the Texas legislation seems to suggest that the law irresponsible in large part for the dearth of available clinics.