Abortions In Texas Plummet 60 Percent One Month After Heartbeat Law Took Effect

Abortions in Texas have plummeted nearly 60 percent in January, just months after the state’s institution of the heartbeat law banning abortions after 6 weeks.

The heartbeat law, Senate Bill 8 which went into effect in Texas on Sept. 1, all abortions after fetal cardiac activity is detected are outlawed. Private individuals can sue clinics, doctors or anyone who allegedly performs abortions on women after the sixth week of pregnancy when embryonic cardiac activity begins and collect a $10,000 reward if they bring a successful lawsuit against the abortion practitioner. The law does not exempt pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

“So far, no anti-abortion supporters have filed any lawsuits,” the Associated Press reports. “State health officials said more data will be released on a monthly basis.”

According to the Texas Health Department, 5,404 women terminated their pregnancies in August. In September, weeks after the S.B. 8 went into effect, the number of abortions performed plummeted with a reported 2,197 abortions performed in September.

Prior to September, approximately 4,200 abortions were performed monthly.

The measure, the most restrictive abortion law in the nation, was upheld in a December ruling by the Supreme Court effectively overturning Roe v. Wade in the state, which allows abortion throughout pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood, the abortion giant founded by eugenicist Margaret Sanger, issued a statement on Friday warning the drop in pregnancy terminations marks “the very beginning of the devastating impact of the law.” The abortion provider claims women are reportedly traveling to other states to get an abortion.

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Joe Biden issued a statement after the law went into effect in September, warning the law protecting the unborn “impairs” minority communities.

“This extreme Texas law blatantly violates the constitutional right established under Roe v. Wade and upheld as precedent for nearly half a century,” Biden said. “The Texas law will significantly impair women’s access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes. And, outrageously, it deputizes private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who they believe has helped another person get an abortion, which might even include family members, health care workers, front desk staff at a health care clinic, or strangers with no connection to the individual.”