Escaping an Abortion Desert Isn’t as Simple as Crossing State Lines
Delays in care are linked to long-term health and financial consequences
Demonstrators rally in support of abortion rights on the steps of the Oklahoma state Capitol in Oklahoma City on April 5.
Photographer: Sarah Phipps/The Oklahoman/APAs states like Texas and Oklahoma restrict abortion access ahead of a pivotal Supreme Court decision, Americans are being forced to travel farther from home to access care. But leaving town to escape restrictive laws is neither an easy solution nor an equitable one.
Texas is a case in point. Following the signing of a law that bans abortion after about six weeks, an average of 1,400 Texans a month are traveling outside the state for abortions, according to a March study from the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Policy Evaluation Project. The majority head for New Mexico or Oklahoma — a plan that has now been complicated by the Oklahoma legislature’s April 5th passage of a total abortion ban.