Texas’ Heartbeat Act has driven a sharp decline in abortions performed on Texas women, according to a new peer-reviewed study that bolsters earlier evidence that the law has saved thousands of unborn lives.
Published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the analysis found that abortions have dropped more than 18% since the law’s enactment, National Review reported.
Researchers compared two identical nine-month periods: September 2021 to May 2022, when the Heartbeat Act was in force, and September 2020 to May 2021, before the law was enacted. They also reviewed data from six surrounding states to determine how many Texans sought abortions elsewhere.
The Texas Heartbeat Act, which took effect on Sept. 1, 2021, protects unborn children once a heartbeat can be detected. The law sets the cutoff for legal abortions at about six weeks after conception.
The study found declines across every age group, with the steepest drop among minors. Total facility-based abortions — including those obtained out of state — fell about 26% among Texans younger than 18, nearly 20% for women 18 to 24, and 17% for those 25 to 29. For women 30 and older, the decrease was about 18%.
Researchers did not examine abortions induced through mail-order abortion drugs, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Pro-life advocates say the findings reinforce what earlier reports have already shown. According to numbers cited by National Review, at least three separate analyses of Texas birth data indicate that the Heartbeat Act has saved more than 1,000 lives every month since its implementation.
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