As Texas Marks One Full Year Without Meaningful Abortion Access, New Data Highlight Sweeping Impact of Abortion Bans on Communities Nationwide

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today marks one full year since Texans first lost meaningful abortion access with the implementation of S.B. 8, a six-week “sue-thy-neighbor” abortion ban. For the past year, Texas has offered a devastating preview of the far-reaching effects of banning abortion. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, two additional total bans have cut off all remaining access in Texas, and 15 other states have begun enforcing their own abortion bans. So far, 1 in 3 American women between the ages of 15 and 44 have lost access to this essential health care. 

New data released from Planned Parenthood Federation of America today highlight the extreme toll S.B. 8 has taken on Texans and on neighboring states – including Oklahoma,  New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas – even before Roe was overturned. The data, which compares the months prior to S.B. 8 taking effect (September 2020 to June 2021) to the months after (September 2021 to June 2022), show that Planned Parenthood health centers in these surrounding states saw a 550% increase in patients obtaining abortion with a Texas ZIP code. It is a clear indication of what we can expect across the country in the coming weeks and months as more states impose bans and more people are cut off from care.

The new data show that from September 2021 to June 2022, when S.B. 8 barred abortion after six weeks of pregnancy but total bans had not yet taken effect in Texas:

• More than 400 abortion patients with a Texas ZIP code visited Planned Parenthood health centers in Kansas, compared to fewer than 10 abortion patients from September 2020 to June 2021.
• Abortion patients with a Texas ZIP code at Planned Parenthood health centers in Colorado increased 10-fold compared to the previous year.
• Abortion patients with a Texas ZIP code more than doubled from 19% to 41% of the total number of abortion patients at Planned Parenthood health centers in New Mexico compared to the previous year.
• Oklahoma’s abortion ban, which took effect in May 2022, cut off a critical access point for Texans: From September 2021 to May 2022, more than half (56%) of the total number of abortion patients at Planned Parenthood health centers in Oklahoma had a Texas ZIP code, compared to 15% from September 2020 to June 2021.

As the data make clear, in states where abortion is banned, people who need care must try to find the money, childcare, transportation, and time off work to flee their state in order to obtain an abortion in a state where it remains legal. As more states ban abortion, patients are forced to literally go to greater lengths: On average in June 2022, Texas patients traveled more than 400 miles to access abortion care, more than four times farther than they traveled on average in June 2021. After Roe was overturned, in one day alone, a Planned Parenthood health center in Houston saw patients who were going to or returning from California, New Jersey, Arizona, New Mexico, Illinois, and Florida for their abortions.  

Statement from presidents and CEOs of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, and Planned Parenthood South Texas:

“Meaningful abortion access in Texas was completely decimated one year ago and it has only worsened since. Across the state, we’ve been forced time and time again to turn away patients in need of essential care. Each day at work, our providers, nurses, and clinicians are met with the painful reality of being legally prevented from providing health care to patients. With bordering states and now others across the country enacting abortion bans – further limiting the already scarce access available to Texans who can travel  – the struggles that predominantly affect our marginalized communities have become even more devastating across the country. As these extreme restrictions continue, our doors remain open and our same promise remains. We are committed to fighting to restore access to essential abortion care.”

Statement from Texas abortion patient Jessica G.

“Because of Texas’s S.B. 8, I was forced to travel 231 miles round-trip to Louisiana last year when I needed an abortion. My parents drove me to Shreveport and back twice: Once for the initial and mandatory counseling appointment, and then again a week later for the actual procedure. I don’t think I would have survived if I was forced to carry that pregnancy to term, but forced pregnancy and forced birth are exactly what thousands of Texans have been subjected to over the past year – and it’s the potential fate of millions of people across the country now that 16 states and counting, including Texas and Louisiana, have begun enforcing bans and additional restrictions on abortion since the fall of Roe.”

Statement from Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO, Planned Parenthood Federation of America: 

“When the courts first allowed Texas’s abortion ban to take effect last September, we knew that it would embolden hostile lawmakers in other states. And sure enough, less than a year later, Oklahoma enacted its own version of the bounty-hunting law. Now, with Roe overturned, 14 other states are enforcing abortion bans with likely more to come in the days and weeks ahead. More than 20 million women, and more people who can become pregnant, face the same reality that Texans have for a year: the life-altering consequences of carrying a pregnancy after being denied an abortion at home or fleeing the state for essential health care. It is heartbreaking to know that stories like Jessica’s will only become more common. Planned Parenthood remains committed to helping patients like Jessica access abortion, and further, to restoring access for all.”

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Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. With more than 600 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.