TY - JOUR
T1 - Geographic Realities of Abortion Access in Texas
T2 - Exploring the Heterogeneous Effects of Texas Senate Bill 8 with Mobile Phone Data
AU - Miller, Jessica
AU - Chi, Guangqing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025.
PY - 2025/6
Y1 - 2025/6
N2 - Restrictive abortion policies have generated reductions in abortion access, increased travel distance to abortion clinics as a result of clinic closures, and produced declines in maternal health outcomes. This study explores the effects of Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8), the most restrictive bill prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, on abortion access in Texas. We used a difference-in-differences approach to explore the heterogeneous effects of SB8 on abortion access for communities of varying socioeconomic statuses and travel distances using 16 months of SafeGraph Inc. mobile phone pattern data for 21 Texas and four Oklahoma abortion clinics between January 1, 2021, and April 30, 2022. Implementation of SB8 was associated with 34% fewer abortion clinic visits in Texas than in Oklahoma. The effects of SB8 on access to abortion care across state borders had a disproportionately greater impact on women in low-income communities. This study provides further evidence of the discriminatory impacts of SB8 in Texas.
AB - Restrictive abortion policies have generated reductions in abortion access, increased travel distance to abortion clinics as a result of clinic closures, and produced declines in maternal health outcomes. This study explores the effects of Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8), the most restrictive bill prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, on abortion access in Texas. We used a difference-in-differences approach to explore the heterogeneous effects of SB8 on abortion access for communities of varying socioeconomic statuses and travel distances using 16 months of SafeGraph Inc. mobile phone pattern data for 21 Texas and four Oklahoma abortion clinics between January 1, 2021, and April 30, 2022. Implementation of SB8 was associated with 34% fewer abortion clinic visits in Texas than in Oklahoma. The effects of SB8 on access to abortion care across state borders had a disproportionately greater impact on women in low-income communities. This study provides further evidence of the discriminatory impacts of SB8 in Texas.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105004189858
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105004189858#tab=citedBy
U2 - 10.1007/s11113-025-09948-0
DO - 10.1007/s11113-025-09948-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 40336775
AN - SCOPUS:105004189858
SN - 0167-5923
VL - 44
JO - Population Research and Policy Review
JF - Population Research and Policy Review
IS - 3
M1 - 29
ER -
