Women in Texas Have Tried to Self-Induce Abortions

Ann Harkness/FlickrLast week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case brought by the nonprofit Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Texas abortion clinics.

Since Roe v. Wade established abortion as a constitutional right in 1973, various states have attempted to limit access to abortions. As a result of HB 2, the number of clinics in Texas has declined from 41 to 18, and may well drop precipitously again depending on the outcome of a challenge to the law now before the Supreme Court.

An anti-abortion protester holds a placard as protesters line the railing on the second floor of the rotunda of the Texas State Capitol as the state Senate meets to consider legislation restricting abortion rights in Austin, Texas, July 12, 2013. “Given that the populations we found to be most familiar with abortion self-induction are among those that have been most directly affected by the closure of abortion clinics in the state”, they write, “we suspect that abortion self-induction will increase as clinic-based care becomes more hard to access”.

To try to correct for this tendency, the researchers used two different methods to estimate the frequency of self-induced abortion: asking women themselves about their own history (that’s where the 1.7 percent figure comes from), and asking women about what they think their best friends have done.

Supporters of the law say the contested provisions are necessary to ensure the health and safety of abortion patients, while opponents claim the excessive and expensive requirements are a veiled attempt to get rid of abortion clinics wholly.

This is more common among Latinas near the U.S.-Mexico border and among women who report barriers to accessing birth control and other reproductive health services.

Rep. Dan Ramos, D-Lorain, said that a bill passed in 1998 under Gov. Bob Taft already did what Conditt described by banning the use of state funds for abortions.

Ciamarra said while she’d like to see an end to abortion, this law is really about protecting women. “I am hopeful that the supreme court will uphold the rights that have been in place for four decades and reaffirm that every woman should be able to make her own decision about continuing or ending a pregnancy”, Miller says.

The plurality of the women in the survey said they were against abortion in general, but they understood why a woman would want to self-induce. HB2 imposed restrictions and safety standards on abortion clinics throughout the state.

Grossman added that the study’s interviews with women who had self-induced abortion provided insight into the reasons why women are doing it.

Participants in the study recounted their experiences and why they were forced to take such desperate measures: “I didn’t have any money to go to San Antonio or Corpus”.

Both of the controversial TRAP provisions in HB2 are opposed by leading medical groups, like the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, who have filed briefs with the Supreme Court stating that the laws are indeed unnecessary and put women’s health at risk. A 26-year-old woman in Corpus Christi recounted, “I just wanted something to work”.