New Abortion Law Forces Women In Texas To Carry Out Procedure On Their Own

Abortion is being carried out by an estimate of up to 200,000 women in Texas, where the procedure is supposedly legal. However, the Texas Omnibus Abortion Bill, popularly known as HB2, has resulted in the shutting down of several abortion clinics in the state. According to reports, this action has forced a lot of women to conduct the procedure on their own.

Although safe abortion is stated under the law, the costs of complying with the new stricter regulations have compelled the clinics to shut down, therefore, making surgical abortion become less accessible for women.

Illegal medications required for medical abortion appear to be easier for women to get in Mexico. This means in spite of not getting the supervision of a doctor in the US, the women may still obtain the same desired result. Among the two medications being considered for medical abortion is misoprostal, which is available even with no prescription and affordable in Mexico, that nearly 200,000 women are reported to have travelled to the country to get them, BBC reported.

Aside from this, some women are also choosing the alternative of taking a pill to self-induce a miscarriage. This option appears to be more enticing with the price value of $30, plus an easy access and lack of questioning when at a clinic. However, there is a great risk in taking drugs. If taken with mifepristone, the second drug usually part of the medical abortion procedure, misoprostal is 95 effective.  But with no mifepristone, the effectiveness will decline and the risk of bleeding increases. Yet, without any other alternatives in Texas, women are forced to take the risk.

Executive Director Joe Pojman of the Texas Alliance for Life, who is an avid supporter of the anti-abortion law in the state said that they have an objective of protecting the young human life from conception until the natural death through legal and peaceful means and by advocating compassionate alternatives to abortion.

Abortion rights supporters, on the other hand, believe that if the justices will uphold the law, despite the FDA label changes, more clinics will shut down, and Mexican pharmacies will benefit even more from it, according to NPR.