Texas abortion dropped 15 percent after now overturned law

(Associated Press)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Abortions in Texas plummeted 15 percent a year after the state passed tough restrictions on the procedure that the U.S. Supreme Court just struck down.

Drops were especially acute among Hispanics and women undergoing medically induced abortions.

Texas' health department released the statistics Thursday, after delays the agency blamed on finalizing the data. But the American Civil Liberties Union accused officials of "concealing" the information.

The totals are illuminating since 2014 was the first full year that Texas' now-dismantled abortion clinic restrictions were in effect.

The Supreme Court sided Monday with Texas clinics, which argued that the 2013 law was an attempt to make it harder to get an abortion.

The number of abortions in Texas has fallen every year since 2008, declining by nearly a third over that period.