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. 2025;44(3):29.
doi: 10.1007/s11113-025-09948-0. Epub 2025 May 5.

Geographic Realities of Abortion Access in Texas: Exploring the Heterogeneous Effects of Texas Senate Bill 8 with Mobile Phone Data

Jessica Miller  1 , Guangqing Chi  1
Affiliations

Geographic Realities of Abortion Access in Texas: Exploring the Heterogeneous Effects of Texas Senate Bill 8 with Mobile Phone Data

Jessica Miller et al. Popul Res Policy Rev. 2025.

Abstract

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.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11113-025-09948-0.

Keywords: Abortion Access; Abortion policy; Maternal health.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interestThe authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Average distance to abortion clinic pre- and post-SB8
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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