Abortion Restrictions Led To Longer Wait Times

Wait times to get an abortion in Texas have grown in some metropolitan areas,a trend that could be
felt statewideif the U.S. Supreme Court allowsthe strictest provision of the states 2013 abortion law
to takeeffect. That'saccording to a new report by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project at the
University of Texas at Austin.
About half of Texas abortion clinics have closed their doors following the passageof House Bill 2,
elements ofwhich have been tangled up in court since lawmakers approved it.
As a result, in the last year, somewomen in Dallas, Fort Worth and Austin have waited up to 20 days
to obtain the procedure. While wait times have remained stable and short in Houston and San
Antonio, the researchers projected that theycould also grow in those areas if the Supreme Court
upholds additional restrictions in the Texas abortionlegislation.
Under HB 2, doctors who perform abortions are required to have admitting privileges at a hospital
within 30 miles of an abortion clinic. A separate provision of the of the law, which is currently
blocked from enforcement by the Supreme Court, would require Texasabortion facilities to meet the
same standards as so-calledambulatory surgical centers, from minimum sizes for rooms and
doorways to pipelines for anesthesia and other infrastructure.
Among the wait-timeresearch findings in the states metropolitan areas:
Dallas has seen the biggest increase in wait times since the researchers' review began in November
2014, particularly after June, when a high-volume clinic in the area closed its doors. Before the
closure of that facility, which performed between 350 and 500 abortions a month, the average wait
time in Dallas was about five days. After the closure,wait times grew to as long as 20 days. In
neighboring Fort Worth, wait times grew to as long as 23 days following the closure of that same
Dallas clinic. Before the closure, wait times crept up from sixto as many as 13 days between
December 2014 and February 2015, when a Fort Worth facility temporarily stopped performing
abortions. Wait times have fluctuated in Austin, where there are currently two abortion facilities.
Theyspiked to 20 days in December 2014 but haveslowly decreased since,recently hitting an average
of more than 10 days. Only one of Austin's twoclinics meets the standards of an ambulatory surgical
center, soresearchers project a big increase inwait times in Austin if the Supreme Court rules in the
state's favor. In Houston, wait times have averaged less than five days since November 2014. In
March 2015, some patients waited up to 13 days for an appointment, but the wait times have since
dropped. Like Austin, researchers predicted wait timescould increase depending on the high court's
ruling;only two of the city'ssix facilities meet ambulatory surgical center standards. Wait times have
also averaged less than five days in San Antonio,where three ambulatory surgical centers are
providing abortion care. The longest wait time occurred in January 2015, at nine days. The long wait
time at some of the [abortion clinics that meet ambulatory surgical center standards] suggests that
these facilities are not meeting the existing demand for services, the researchers wrote in the
report.
The researchers also projected that growing wait times could lead to a significant increase in the
number of abortions performed in the second trimester.
Even without lengthy wait times, women seeking abortions in Texas are alreadyup against the clock.
HB 2 also banned abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The UT research findingscome as abortion providers wait for the Supreme Court to decide whether
it will take up a legal challenge to the Texasabortion law; a decision is expected within weeks.
Attorneys for a coalition of abortion providers whosued the state in 2014 have argued that the
Texasrestrictions are unconstitutional because they create an undue burden on women in far
corners of the state,who could be left to travel more than 150 miles for the procedure in the event
the ambulatory surgical center rule took effect.
The Texas attorney general's office has argued that the abortion restrictions are constitutional,
reasonable measures meant to improve women's health. Attorneys for the state have also said the
regulations would not create an undue burden for a majority of women seeking the procedure.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has previously upheld both the ambulatory surgical center and
admitting privilegesprovisionsin Texas' law, granting an exemption for a McAllen clinic. The
U.S.Supreme Court in June sided with Texas abortion providers and temporarily blocked the 5th
Circuits ruling, in particularprohibiting the state from enforcing the ambulatory surgical center
provision statewide.

If the Supreme Court declines to take up the Texascase, thelower courts ruling would stand.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A
complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewedhere.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/texas-abortion-law_56129d95e4b0af3706e16242