Texas Policy Evaluation Project

rdf:langString Texas Policy Evaluation Project

rdf:langString The Texas Policy Evaluation Project, or TxPEP, is a collaborative group of university-based investigators who evaluate the impact of legislation in Texas related to women's reproductive health. It began in the fall of 2011 with the purpose of documenting and evaluating the impact of reproductive health legislation passed by the 82nd Texas Legislature. Those measures included large cuts to state family planning funding programs in the 2012–2013 budget as well as changes in the eligibility of organizations to participate in those programs, and Texas House Bill 15, a law requiring that women undergo a mandatory sonogram at least 24 hours before an abortion. Their evaluation work continued after the 83rd Texas Legislature in 2013, when the legislature added funding streams for family planning to the 2014–15 budget and passed Texas House Bill 2, an omnibus bill restricting abortion care that was introduced in a special legislative session in summer 2013. HB 2 placed limits on medication abortion, banned abortion ≥20 weeks “post-fertilization,” and required abortion providers to have hospital admitting privileges and abortion facilities to meet the standards of ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). In June 2016, the US Supreme Court struck down the admitting privileges and ASC requirements in HB 2, citing TxPEP research findings in its ruling. The project continues to publish peer-reviewed journal articles on topics such as family planning, contraceptive counseling, abortion, judicial bypass for abortion, and more. Researchers working on the project are affiliated with multiple institutions, including the University of Texas at Austin Population Research Center, the University of California San Francisco, and Ibis Reproductive Health.