ACLU Response to DSHS Release of Abortion Stats

Affiliate: ACLU of Texas
July 1, 2016 10:30 am

ACLU Affiliate
ACLU of Texas
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HOUSTON – Today, the Texas Department of State Health Services released 2014 abortion statistics in the wake of a demand letter to Commissioner Hellerstedt sent by the ACLU of Texas. The statistics account for the first full year that provisions of the controversial anti-abortion law, known as Texas House Bill 2, were in effect.

Trisha Trigilio, staff attorney for the ACLU of Texas, issued the following statement:

“We will leave it to statisticians to undertake deeper analyses of this data but at first glance the numbers demonstrate the devastating effect House Bill 2 had on the women of Texas. Given the overall drop in abortions – especially in vulnerable communities along the border – as well as the precipitous 70 percent drop in medication abortions, these numbers show that this law never had anything do with women’s health. It’s clear why lawmakers might have wanted to keep this information out of the public eye before the Supreme Court made its decision.”

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