Texas residents seeking abortions across state lines more than quadrupled from 2021 to 2023, with the biggest increases recorded after 2022 when the state's trigger law banning the procedure in almost all cases took effect.
Citing data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, The Hill reported that 7,844 Texans sought out-of-state abortion services in 2023, while 4,718 traveled to different states for the procedure in 2022. In 2021, 1,712 Lone Star State residents obtained abortions in other states.
Just 62 abortions were reported in Texas in 2023, according to the HHSC data. All were listed as emergency procedures, including to preserve the health of the mother. Last year, 76 abortions were reportedly performed in the state.
Texas tracks the number of out-of-state abortions through a public health reporting system known as the State and Territorial Exchange of Vital Events.
An HHSC spokesperson told The Hill that reporting abortion data to the system is voluntary, and not all states participate. Therefore, the total number of out-of-state abortions in 2023 may be higher than the 7,844 reported.
The nonprofit Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion access, estimates the actual number of Texans obtaining an out-of-state abortion at around 35,000.
According to the organization's estimates, 14,230 Texas women traveled to New Mexico to access abortion in 2023, while 6,620 went to Kansas, 4,440 to Colorado and 3,310 to California. About 6,300 Texas women went to other states for the procedure.
Nearly 3,000 Texans procured an abortion in Kansas in 2022, data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment showed. That's up 1,178% from 2021, when just 233 Texas residents had abortions performed in Kansas.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a constitutional right to abortion. The Dobbs ruling returned the question of abortion to the states to decide.
The high court's decision to send abortion regulation back to the states activated Texas' trigger law, which took effect in August 2022 and banned most abortions in the state.
Neighboring Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma also have abortion bans in place, meaning Texas women and girls seeking abortion must travel to states such as Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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