A new article in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) examines the ways Texas’ 2020 executive order prohibiting abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted patients’ access to abortion care.
The study finds that patients were less likely to return for an abortion if they had an ultrasound while the executive order was under effect than in the same period in 2019. Compared with patients at or before 10 weeks’ gestation at ultrasound, patients at more than 10 weeks’ gestation had higher odds of not returning for an abortion or, if they returned, experienced greater wait times between ultrasound and abortion visits.
The study concludes that Texas’ executive order prohibiting abortion during the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted patients’ access to care and disproportionately affected patients who were past 10 weeks’ gestation.
This publication was featured in the AJPH newsletter.