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Texans younger than 18 years old are impacted the most by the state’s abortion ban, according to a research paper published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study was conducted after lawmakers passed Senate Bill 8 in 2021. It compares abortion statistics from September 2020 to May 2021 to data from September 2021 to May 2022, after the law went into effect.

Study Co-author Kari White, executive and scientific director for Resound Research for Reproductive Health, said abortions for Texans under 18 years old decreased more than 26 percent and decreased by almost 20 percent for young adults from ages 18 to 24.

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"It may be that young people just recognized their pregnancy later, and so certainly weren’t able to get into an abortion-providing facility before embryonic cardiac activity could be detected," said White. "They also just may have been reluctant to disclose their pregnancy to a family member."

After the law went into effect, both in-state and out-of-state abortions for Texans between 25 and 29 decreased by 17 percent.

Research also shows a decrease in the number of Texans who travel to neighboring states for abortion services. White said while online abortion medication is more readily available, some teens may still have difficulty receiving reproductive care.

"But there's a lot of variability in terms of how young people can access that," said White. "Some providers will not provide those medications to people under a certain age. It also requires young people to have access to a credit card."

White said keeping an unplanned pregnancy can have a huge impact on a teen’s life.

"If they’re in an unsafe relationship, it is more difficult for them to get out of that relationship," said White. "It may be more difficult for them to complete their education or go on to the next level of education. And really can make it difficult for them to achieve their aspirations."