Since going into effect in November 2013, a Texas law that places strict restrictions on abortion regulations has accompanied an apparent decline in the rate of abortions being administered. According to a study, released on Jul. 23, the rate of abortions in Texas has gone down 13 percent while the rate in the Lower Rio Grande Valley has declined 21 percent.

The study, which sought to analyze the effects of recently passed reproductive legislation, determined that the rate of abortions declined in accordance with the decline in number of clinics available to perform the procedure.

Critics of the law state that the decline in abortion rates are likely due to the decreased availability of legal providers. Under the new law, physicians must have admitting rights to hospitals less than 30 miles from their clinics. The challenges in obtaining these rights have reduced the number of providers by more than half, from 42 to 20. All but one clinic in West Texas has shut down, leaving 1.3 million women more than 100 miles away from a facility capable of legally providing abortions.

Other restrictions have accompanied declines in rates of abortion as well. The time span allowed for a woman to get a medical abortion, where she takes a pill to induce, has been shortened from the first nine weeks to the first seven. Abortions of this kind have dropped 70 percent as a result.

Supporters of the law say that the intention is to make abortion procedures safer, though critics insist that the intent was to make abortions harder to obtain. They argue that the rates of abortions performed in remaining clinics has not changed, likely because they were already operating at full capacity before the new law.

Advocacy groups express concern for future consequences of the law, which has only partially gone into effect. They worry that the reduction in clinics available coupled with requirements of prerequisite ultrasounds and consultation appointments could lead to women seeking riskier alternative options.