Study Reveals Texas Abortion Ban Most Affected Minors Seeking Care

A new report finds that the youngest Texans were impacted the most after the state enacted a six-week abortion ban back in 2021. As Texas Public Radio reports, the number of pregnancy terminations that happened in clinical settings in the year after the ban fell sharply for everyone. But for those under 18, the number fell by 26%. More than one in four of the children who might have gotten an abortion at a facility in Texas did not. According to a study published this week in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), all age groups experienced double-digit declines in the number of abortions obtained in Texas facilities after the six-week ban. The study says those under 18 may have seen the sharpest decline, in part because they are less likely to recognize the signs of pregnancy before six weeks gestation.” Just one year after the ban went into effect, births to teenage mothers slightly increased in Texas the following year, according to a 2024 analysis by researchers at the University of Houston after years of declines.

KFF

When it comes to abortion ban exceptions regarding rape and incest, refer to the graphic (above) to see the laws for each state. According to the nonprofit, nonprofit research and polling and health news organization KFF [formerly known as the Kaiser Faily Foundation], among the 21 states with abortion bans or early gestational limits, 11 make exceptions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest and 10 do not. Of the 14 states with total abortion bans, nine (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas) lack a rape or incest exception.
The remaining 5 states (Idaho, Indiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, and West Virginia) have exceptions for cases of rape or incest but limit these exceptions to the earlier stages of pregnancy.
*For more information on this KFF analysis, click here.