The Texas law that requires women wait twenty-four hours after receiving an ultrasound to get an abortion is not causing them to change their minds but is causing 鈥渆xcessive hardship.鈥�
罢丑补迟鈥檚 by and a that favors women鈥檚 reproductive rights.
The study found that most women (89 percent) were 鈥渃onfident鈥� or 鈥渆xtremely confident鈥� in their decision to have an abortion鈥攂oth before and after the ultrasound.
But a third of women said the waiting period negatively affected their emotional well-being.
Dr. Daniel Grossman helped conduct the study. He read a quote from one woman surveyed:
鈥淪he said: 鈥業 wanted to go in one day and get it over with but it was the law. I didn鈥檛 want two days to think about it. I thought about changing my mind a couple of times. I was with my partner鈥攈e kept throwing the picture of the ultrasound in my face. He wasn鈥檛 supportive at all. I think women should have the right to make their own health decisions."
State Rep. Jessica Farrar (D-Houston) says the restrictions need to be overturned.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just ridiculous that we do things to women to manipulate their minds instead of trusting that they already have made a very difficult decision," Farrar said.
Farrar says the best way to reduce the number of abortions is to restore state funding for things like contraceptives.
Meanwhile, a by UT and the Texas Tribune says most Texans favor a proposal to outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said they would support so-called "fetal pain" legislation, which has been advanced by Republican state lawmakers and supported by Governor Rick Perry.
