On September 1, 2021, S.B. 8, Texas’s ban on abortion after approximately six weeks of pregnancy, took effect, prohibiting the majority of Texans from accessing abortion here at home.

For half a year, Texans have been needlessly suffering, forced to find the time, money, and resources to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles out of state if they can – and if they can’t, forced to carry pregnancies against their will or to seek abortion outside of the healthcare system.

The impact of this dangerous abortion ban goes far beyond Texas. New data from Planned Parenthood details the devastation caused by S.B. 8 for patients and providers in surrounding states, including Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, and Missouri. The data, which was collected last year between Sept. 1 — when S.B. 8 went into effect — and Dec. 31, shows that Planned Parenthood health centers in these states saw a nearly 800% increase in abortion patients from Texas, compared to the same period in 2020.