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AUSTIN (KXAN) — The number of Texans seeking an abortion out of state more than quadrupled between 2021 and 2023, after a state law went into effect that bans the procedure in almost all cases.
Data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission shows at least 7,844 Texas residents received an abortion in a different state in 2023, up from 4,718 in 2022 and 1,712 in 2021. Still, the total number of abortions for Texas residents dropped by 85% compared to 2021.
In 2023, just 62 abortions were reported in Texas, all due to medical emergency and/or to preserve the health of the mother. Between January and April 2024, 32 abortions were performed in the state, according to the HHSC data.
Texas receives reports from other states through the State and Territorial Exchange of Vital Events, a public health reporting system maintained by the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems.
Reporting abortion data to the system is voluntary, and not all states participate, according to a HHSC spokesperson. That means the total number may be higher than the 7,844 reported in 2023.
In fact, the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit that tracks access to abortion, estimates the number to be closer to 35,000. The organization estimates 14,230 Texas women traveled to New Mexico for an abortion in 2023, while 6,620 went to Kansas, 4,440 went to Colorado and 3,310 went to California. An estimated 6,300 Texas women went to other states.
In 2022, almost 3,000 Texans received an abortion in Kansas, according to official data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. That constituted a 1,178% increase from 2021, when just 233 abortions were performed on Texas residents. Kansas has yet to report data for 2023.
HHSC does not maintain data on people who travel internationally to receive an abortion.
The Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 decision on June 24, 2022, eliminating the nearly 50-year-old constitutional right to abortion. The ruling gave states the authority to limit or ban the procedure.
A trigger law in Texas went into effect in August 2022, banning most abortions in the state. Abortion is also banned in neighboring Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, meaning Texas women who want the procedure must travel to states like Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico.
