Following legislation passed in Texas after the end of Roe v. Wade, Colorado has seen a 500% increase in abortions performed on patients from the Lonestar State, according to reports.
The report from the Colorado Sun shares that last year, Colorado provided more abortions than it has in almost four decades. The state neared its peak, set in the mid-1980s, when more effective forms of birth control entered the market, and the practice saw a decline.
From 2021 to 2022, there was a 22% overall increase in abortions provided in the state, which was largely driven by the number of out-of-state patients who traveled to Colorado, where the procedure is less restricted.
According to data from the Colorado Department of Health, the state saw 14,154 abortions last year, including surgical abortions and those induced with medication.
In total, the report said that the number of Texas patients who sought an abortion in 2021 increased by 500% after a 2021 bill saw the practice banned after six weeks of pregnancy. For people from Colorado, the number of people who sought an abortion increased by around 2%.
The last time the state surpassed 14,000 abortions was in 1986, according to the state health department.
“When people don’t want to be pregnant, they will seek abortion care all over the country,” Adrienne Mansanares, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, shared with the outlet. “It doesn’t subside because of these terrible laws.”
Mansanares also told the Sun that patients are arriving more stressed than ever before. She says some share they are afraid of being followed to the state or that they will be prosecuted by authorities in their home state.
To help patients from out of state and fear the authorities are following a paper trail, Mansanares says her organization will book hotel rooms for them.
“Those traveling patients come with such a deep amount of shame, fear,” she said. “There is no way we could have predicted the deep feelings of stress and strain not only from people traveling from out of state but also people in state still dealing with the effects of the pandemic.”
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