Karen Weaver's Fight for Clean Water November 2017 | Page 40

A RISING CRISIS
DIY ABORTIONS IN TEXAS
An estimated 100,000 women in Texas have procured self-abortions since the GOP-
dominated state cut back drastically on facilities where women can obtain a surgical
abortion. The restrictive laws took effect in 2013, forcing so many clinic closings that
fewer than 20 remain to serve 5.4 million women of reproductive age. The new
regulations, which have been implemented in several other Republican-led states,
require clinics to upgrade to hospital standards and doctors performing abortions to
have formal agreements to admit patients to local hospitals. Research shows U.S.
women opt to self-induce due to the closings of local clinics, the expense of a clinical
procedure or the costs of traveling to a distant facility.
Women are procuring misoprostol by either crossing the border into Mexico, where it
is available for about $18 without a prescription, or by ordering it online. They review
how-to instructions which are easily found online, and induce the abortions themselves
at home. The drug was originally prescribed to treat ulcers and arthritis, but it also
induces abortions with contractions and heavy bleeding. The process lasts about 12
hours.
An upcoming Supreme Court ruling could uphold Texas' restrictive abortion laws,
which many other states have implemented in recent years. If the laws are upheld,
experts predict that the numbers of self-induced abortions will escalate.