Abortions in Texas dropped by 97% in the month after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, according to preliminary data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
In July, just 68 abortions were performed in Texas, down from 2,596 in June. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June when it ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there is no constitutional basis for the right to abortion.
Abortions in Texas, which were already significantly decreased by the state’s 2021 fetal heartbeat law, effectively stopped in June amid uncertainty about the law.
After Dobbs, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said a 1925 pre-Roe ban on abortion was in effect again and enforceable. The nearly century-old law bans most abortions from the moment of conception and providers face a five-year maximum prison sentence.
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