Since 2021, Texas has enforced a strict ban on abortions that take place after six weeks. The Texas Heartbeat Act (Senate Bill 8) largely banned most abortions across the state with a few exceptions. Since the passing of this bill and the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, many pro-abortion activists in Texas have protested the state’s strict enforcement.
But it appears that Texas’ efforts have been extremely successful. According to research published in the journal JAMA, approximately 10,000 more births have occurred than previously expected in the last nine months of 2022.
Essentially, Texas’ abortion laws have already saved nearly 10,000 children.
The actual birth rate in Texas is three percent higher than the expected rate had there been no abortion ban. Texas, being such a large state, was one of the largest abortion-providing states until the law was put into place. There were about 297,000 births in the state of Texas within the first 9 months following the bill being passed, which is three percent higher than the birth prediction of 287,000 babies being born in the state for the time frame given.
It doesn’t just stop there; the predicted birth rate for 2023 is expected to be even higher than it was at the end of 2022. This is primarily because of the overturning of Roe v Wade, and the fact that traveling to other states to obtain an abortion is becoming more difficult as other states impose their own bans.
The birth rate in the United States has been rapidly decreasing in recent years, especially after the recession in 2007. In 2023, we are still seeing a massive decline in births across the country. The current US birth rate last reported in 2020 is 1.64 per woman. There were almost 600,000 fewer annual births in 2019 relative to 2007, a 13 percent reduction.
The effective measures taken by states to enact strict abortion laws are a huge win in fighting the declining birth rate across the country. And of course, it’s a huge win for the lives of innocent children that are being saved.
This piece first appeared at TPUSA.
