Texas researchers' findings factor into abortion ruling
(Associated Press)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The biggest court ruling affirming U.S. abortion rights in a generation scolded Texas for a lack of facts while vindicating researchers who pored over impact of restrictions for three years.
The dismantling of Texas' restrictive abortion law this week by the U.S. Supreme Court ended a fight waged not just on ideological grounds but on spreadsheets. Researchers based at the University of Texas relentlessly analyzed the law's impact on everything from rural abortion access to Twitter traffic.
Justice Stephen Breyer referenced some of their findings in his data-heavy majority opinion Monday.
Republicans say their math seldom checked out. When one unflattering study about funding cuts to Planned Parenthood was published earlier this year, the state's head of health research resigned under pressure from GOP lawmakers.