Abortion Bans Harm Not Just Pregnant People—They Harm Newborns and Infants Too

For more than 20 years, laws applying targeted restrictions on abortion providers (TRAP laws) have impeded Texans from fully exercising their human right to control their own reproduction. Prior to 2016, these laws were largely passed under the guise of protecting women’s health. Legislators claimed that laws requiring waiting periods, forced ultrasounds, hospital admitting privileges for physicians providing abortion care, or wider hallways in clinics improved the safety of abortion care. However, in the 2016 US Supreme Court decision Whole Woman’s Health v Hellerstedt, justices concluded that TRAP laws purported to improve abortion safety did not actually do so. Thus, TRAP laws could no longer pass the undue burden test set forth by Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey.