Buffett-Backed Abortion Researchers Messed With Texas and Won
- Data and analysis laid foundation for law’s dismantling
- Research with abortion providers said to be difficult
Pro-choice activists wait for rulings in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27, 2016, in Washington.
Photographer: Pete Marovich/Getty ImagesBehind the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic abortion ruling this week was a small band of academic researchers whose trove of data and analysis was instrumental in dismantling some of the country’s toughest restrictions on the procedure in Texas and beyond.
The Texas Policy Evaluation Project, known as TxPEP, assigned five researchers to traverse the state to gather statistics from abortion providers, amass public records and interview women. The project was founded in 2011 at the University of Texas at Austin to study the impacts of reproductive health measures passed by state lawmakers. Its work was enabled by funding from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named after Warren Buffett’s deceased first wife.