AUSTIN (KXAN) — Reactions are pouring in after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade Friday, eliminating the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion.
Texas has a so-called ‘trigger law‘ that will take effect 30 days after the SCOTUS decision. The law prohibits abortions “except under limited circumstances, such as a life-threatening condition to the mother caused by the pregnancy.”
But just how common is the procedure in Texas, and which demographic groups are most likely to get an abortion? KXAN looked at data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
The number of abortions provided to Texas residents has declined by about a third since 2008, from almost 80,000 that year to just over 50,000 in 2021. The 2021 total does not yet include the number of Texas residents who received an abortion out-of-state.
A vast majority of abortions in Texas are carried out in the first eight weeks after fertilization.
Texas Senate Bill 8, which went into effect in September 2021, bans abortions as soon as a fetal heartbeat is detected. That can happen as early as six weeks into the pregnancy. Texas’ law has been called one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.
According to data from Texas HHSC, abortions are not proportional to population when it comes to race and ethnicity. The contrast is particularly stark for Black people. The demographic group makes up about 12% of the state’s population, yet accounts for 30% of all abortions in Texas.
White people in Texas make up almost 40% of the state population but account for just 26.7% of all abortions.
A majority of abortions in Texas — 58.6% — are performed on women in their 20s, while 29.6% are on women in their 30s. In 2021, 1,064 abortions were performed on girls under the age of 18.
Most women who received an abortion in Texas in 2021 had never had one before. In 61.7% of abortions, the woman had never had a previous abortion. For about a quarter of women, it was their second abortion.
Of the roughly 50,000 Texas women who got an abortion in 2021, about 20,000 had previously not given birth. In total, 60% were already mothers.
For our full coverage of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, click here.