Texas' abortion ban means patients are seeking care in nearby states. Here's how many.
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Texas' trigger law banning most abortions went into effect, pregnant people in Texas have traveled to other states for the medical procedure.
According to John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, about 55,000 abortions occurred in Texas between Sept. 2020 and August 2021 before Senate Bill 8, which outlawed the medical procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. But in the month after the bill passed, out-of-state abortions among Texas residents at 12 weeks of gestation went from 222 in August 2021 to 1,332 in September 2021.
An American-Statesman analysis of state-level data shows Texans continued to make up a sizable percentage of those seeking such medical care in nearby states in the year after, too. Here's a look at where Texans have gone for abortions:
More Texas residents got abortions in Oklahoma than Oklahomans in 2022
Abortions in Oklahoma fell dramatically after Gov. Kevin Stitt made performing an abortion a felony in April 2022. In fact, the state's Department of Health reported zero abortions in Oklahoma during the last seven months of the year.
Before that, 2,156 abortions were legally performed in the state from January to April. More than 60% of those procedures used a nonsurgical approach, such as the abortion pill mifepristone. Texas residents accounted for 1,119 of those, or 52% of cases. Oklahomans received 898 abortions, or 42% of cases.
In 2021, Oklahoma had more abortions than in 2022 as the procedure occurred in each month of that year. In 2021, 5,697 abortions were in Oklahoma, 3,665 of which were for state residents. Texans were still the largest portion of out-of-state clients, receiving 1,327 abortions.
Oklahoma abortion laws similar to Texas ban
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, abortion in Oklahoma is prohibited unless when “necessary to preserve” the life of a pregnant person.
Kansas abortions rose in 2022 due to demand from Texas, other states
Kansas reported 12,318 medical abortions in 2022, up from 7,849 the previous year for those 18 and older. The rise in abortions came as out-of-state residents flocked to Kansas for the procedure, reaching record levels. The number of Kansans receiving abortions held steady.
The 8,475 out-of-state residents to receive an abortion in Kansas in 2022 was the most since that state's health department started tracking the data in 1981. The number is more than double the 3,912 abortions given to Kansans last year.
Similarly to Oklahoma, nearly 60% of those procedures used a nonsurgical approach, such as mifepristone.
Texans received 2,978 abortions in Kansas, the most of any out-of-state group in 2022. That number is 24% of all abortions performed in the state last year. The total is a sharp increase from a year earlier when only 233 abortions were performed for Texans in Kansas.
Kansas abortion law follows ruling that pregnant persons' personal autonomy is in state constitution
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, abortions in Kansas are legal as long as the state constitution is not amended. In 2019, the highest court in the state ruled that a pregnant person's right to personal autonomy is protected in Kansas' constitution. To receive an abortion in the state, patients must complete a consent form at least 24 hours before their appointments.
More than 1 in 6 Colorado abortions were for Texans in 2022
Colorado reported 14,154 abortions in 2022, the most since 1985.
Like Kansas, the number of state residents (10,143) who received an abortion was similar to the previous year (9,949), but more out-of-state residents came to the area for the medical procedure.
Out-of-state residents received 3,924 abortions in the state in 2022, a 151% increase compared with the 1,560 performed the previous year. Of those patients, Texans had the greatest jump in abortions, which went from 400 in 2021 to 2,418 in 2022. In short, Texans accounted for more than 1 in 6 abortions in Colorado last year.
According to the Colorado Sun, about 70% of patients at Planned Parenthood clinics in the state used mifepristone.
Colorado abortion law: protected as fundamental right
Colorado is one of a dozen states where abortion is constitutionally protected. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, the state in 2022 enacted a statutory protection, establishing abortion as a fundamental right.
'Abortion haven' states like New Mexico, California have not released 2022 data
The New Mexico Department of Health's most recent abortion data is from 2019, noting 2,735 abortions were recorded in the state. The department does not specify how many of those abortions were for residents or nonresidents.
The federal Center for Disease Control's data from 2020 noted that the state saw an increase to 4,293 abortions in 2020. Of those abortions, 1,301 were for out-of-state residents, making New Mexico the state with the second highest percentage of abortions for out-of-state patients behind Kansas, which reported more than half in 2020.
California does not track or report such data.
Abortion laws in other states surrounding Texas
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights,
Louisiana: Prohibits abortion with civil and criminal penalties.
Arkansas: Prohibits abortion after trigger ban.
New Mexico: Abortions are accessible, although its courts have not determined whether the state constitution protects the right to an abortion.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kansas, Colorado abortions set records, tied to demand from Texas
