Abortions in Texas plummeted in August 2022, according to new data released by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. The report shows 0 legal elective abortions committed and 3 medically necessary abortions legally performed to save the life of the mother. A year ago in the same month, there were 5,706 lives taken by elective abortion.
Texas law allows abortion when the life of a mother is jeopardized by her pregnancy:
“Medical emergency” means a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that, as certified by a physician, places the woman in danger of death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function unless an abortion is performed.
This risk of death must be foreseeable but does not have to be imminent in order for this exception to apply.
Advancements in medical technology have greatly reduced the situations where both mother and child are at risk, but in rare and heartbreaking circumstances, a woman’s pregnancy can endanger her life. The death of the child is an indirect result of a life-saving intervention for the mother. Texas Right to Life mourns the loss of the three children who tragically could not be saved last year but we are grateful the doctors rightly protected the mothers rather than losing both precious lives.
Thankfully, the August report shows a substantial decrease in abortions even from the prior month. July 2022 data revealed 67 elective abortions committed in Texas, likely during the few days in which an activist judge attempted to prevent Texas’ pre-Roe abortion ban from regaining effect.
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However, this report does not reflect illegal, unreported abortions driven by radical anti-Life groups. That is why Texas must focus on stopping websites that ship illegal abortion drugs from overseas and activists who traffic these life-ending drugs across the border.
With thousands of babies who will be born rather than aborted, Texas Right to Life will promote legislation in 2023 that would:
- Reform the adoption and foster care systems,
- Remove barriers for pregnant and parenting mothers in schools and workplaces,
- Increase funding for the Alternatives to Abortion program, and
- Ensure that mothers have medical coverage up to one year after giving birth.
Thousands of lives are being saved, as many as 50,000 since September of last year, and the best days of our movement are yet to come! We must continue to fight against the abortion industry’s new efforts and create a culture that respects and values Life.
LifeNews Note: Kim Schwartz writes for Texas Right to Life.
