Texas Groups Confirm Research that Restrictions Affect Wait Times for Abortion

Texas Independent research confirms that Texas is already seeing the harmful consequences
reproductive rights organizations warned would happen following the passage of draconian antiabortion legislation, leaders of those organizations said today. A new study from the Texas Policy
Evaluation Project (TxPEP), released on Monday, reveals that widespread clinic closures are
substantially increasing wait times for abortions, pushing women seeking abortion care later into
their pregnancies.
Nan Little Kirkpatrick, executive director of the Texas Equal Access Fund, an organization
that provides financial assistance for abortion said, Access to abortion shouldnt depend on
where a person lives or how much money they have, but this is the Texas we live in today. If a
person is traveling from Lubbock to Fort Worth and facing waiting periods of 20 days or longer,
the level of financial and life stress caused by the combination of finding time off of work, the
cost of travel, finding childcare, and the higher cost of a second trimester procedure will put
abortion completely out of reach for thousands of Texans.
Tina Hester, executive director of Janes Due Process states, Such extensive wait times push
a minor further into her pregnancy, creating dangerous circumstances in homes where teens are
experiencing family violence. Additionally, the cost of the procedure rises significantly when the
pregnant teen is forced to wait until the second trimester, placing a tremendous financial burden
on a teen who lacks family support.
Holly Benavides, member of the Board of Directors of the Lilith Fund for Reproductive
Equity, an abortion fund providing financial assistance to Texas residents in central, south, west
and east Texas, stated, "House Bill 2 has had disastrous effects on access to reproductive health
care for people in Texasespecially for Lilith Fund clients in South Texas and non-metropolitan
areas of our state. An increase in the wait time for an abortion means greater costs, and will
effectively put safe and legal abortion care out of reach for someespecially those
disproportionately impacted by income disparity, racism, immigration status, geography, and
other barriers.
Natalie St. Clair, operations manager of Fund Texas Choice, an organization providing
transportation assistance, shared the struggles of one of their clients, "This morning I had a
conversation with a woman who wanted to make an appointment at an Austin clinic last week,
but all had waiting times of more than two weeks. This wait would put her past 22 weeks of
pregnancy, when no Texas clinic would be able to see her. Instead she is planning a trip to
Albuquerque next week. We'll have to plan out every detail so she can take off work, find
childcare, book a hotel and a plane for what will be a 6-day trip out of state, all to access an
abortion she wanted to get last week at a clinic 45 minutes from her home."
The research from TxPEP reveals the impact House Bill 2, a Texas law that has already forced
more than half the states abortion clinics to close since it was passed in 2013, has had on wait
times for an abortion. TxPEP found that wait times for an abortion went up to 23 days at clinics in
Austin and Fort Worth.
Organizations working in the field are already seeing the impact of the clinic closures. These
groups include the Texas Equal Access Fund, The Lilith Fund, Whole Womans Health, ACLU
of Texas, Progress Texas, Texas Freedom Network, National Latina Institute for Reproductive
Health, Janes Due Process, Fund Texas Choice, Frontera Fund, West Fund, NARAL Pro-Choice
Texas and Shift.

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Contact:
Dallas: Nan Little Kirkpatrick, TEA Fund, (469) 744-7242, nan@teafund.org
Austin: Tina Hester, Janes Due Process, PHONE #, hestertina@gmail.com
Austin: Natalie St. Clair 512-900-8908 ext 707 and natalie@fundtexaschoice.org.
San Antonio: Holly Benavides, Lilith Fund, 210-367-9706, hmb2021@gmail.com
To locate spokespeople in other media markets, contact Heather Busby, 512-680-5141,
Heather@prochoicetexas.org