Texas home abortions have risen since clinics closed following a Texas state law which restricted abortions in 2013, reported NBC News. Last week, the United States Supreme Court decided to hear the challenge to Texas law, House Bill 2 (HB2), which has caused the dramatic decline of health clinics that service women and men in Texas.
HB2 requires abortion clinics to meet the same medical standards as stand alone surgery centers, and requires doctors who provide abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals.
“By forcing clinics to close, Texas legislators have multiplied the barriers women face when they need an abortion," stated Amy Hagstrom Miller, chief executive of Whole Woman’s Health and the lead plaintiff in the challenge that the Supreme Court accepted.
“Texas women are forced to go to multiple and unnecessary visits at clinics that are now farther away, take more days off of work, losing income, find childcare, and arrange and pay for transportation for hundreds of miles," said Miller, according to MSNBC.
There weren’t enough hospitals within 30 miles of abortion clinics, and making the necessary renovations to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers was too expensive for many abortion clinics, which caused unprecedented closures across Texas, reported the New York Times.
Due to the lack of access of health clinics, many women are turning to unsafe measures to end pregnancies, which were widespread before Roe V. Wade allowed women access to safe abortion clinics, noted Bustle. Due to the restrictive Texan law, many women are living a pre-Roe experience today.
