skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Research: Texas Law Closes Clinics, Restricts Abortions

play audio
Play

Monday, March 21, 2016   

AUSTIN, Texas - New research shows restrictions placed on Texas clinics that perform abortions are causing significant barriers and hardships for women seeking those services.

A study by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project says more than half of the clinics that provided abortion services in Texas have closed since House Bill 2 went into effect in 2013.

Liza Fuentes, a co-researcher on the study, says they interviewed almost 400 women seeking abortion services between May and August of 2014.

"We were really able to provide some research on multiple obstacles that haven't been well measured before," says Fuentes. "Everything from increased travel distances to out-of-pocket expenses, to women's own assessment of difficulties."

House Bill 2, passed by the Texas Legislature in July 2013, requires abortion clinics meet ambulatory surgical center standards, and that their doctors have admitting privileges at local hospitals.

It also limits abortions to the first 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Fuentes says of the 41 clinics that existed before the law was passed, only 19 remained open a year later.

She adds among the women surveyed, by mid-2014, the average travel distance to a clinic was 85 miles. That, and longer waits to schedule services, meant many women were having abortions much later in their pregnancies.

"The delays and later abortion are concerning, because they're more expensive for women," says Fuentes. "And, even though abortion is one of the most common and safest medical procedures in the United States, later abortion still does carry risk."

The constitutionality of HB2 has been challenged in the courts and is awaiting a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Texas Policy Evaluation Project is a program of the Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021