How Texas’ Abortion Ban Is Straining Its OB-GYN Workforce

“Texas and other states have implemented new laws that create an incredibly complicated legal framework for how physicians, including OB-GYNs, deliver the care that they’re trained to deliver for the women who need it. And there’s no alternative. Abortion in these cases is the standard of care. So suffice it to say the situation is now much more complicated for physicians who are delivering services to these women.”

— Alex Morin, Managing Director, Manatt Health

About the Episode

This is the final episode in our three-part series on reproductive health in Texas — where we have world-class health facilities, yet rank near the bottom when it comes to women’s health outcomes. Listen to Episode 1 and Episode 2.  
 

Texas banned all abortions in 2022, with one exception — to save the life of the pregnant patient or “prevent substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” The law’s vague language and harsh penalties for doctors who perform abortions, including possible life imprisonment and a $100,000 fine, have left OB-GYN physicians unsure of when emergency care is legally allowed and fearful of acting outside the law.

As a result, OB-GYNs across the state are reconsidering how, and where, they practice.

Alex Morin, managing director at Manatt Health and coauthor of two recent studies on the ban’s impact, joins Elena M. Marks to discuss how legal uncertainty around the ban is reshaping reproductive health outcomes in Texas and what it means for the state’s OB-GYN workforce pipeline.

This conversation was recorded on May 29, 2025. 

Listen and subscribe to “Texas Briefing” on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and anywhere else you listen to podcasts.

Mentioned in this episode:

• “Confusion, Cruelty and Fear: Delivering Reproductive Care to Women After Texas’ Abortion Ban,” Manatt Health.
• “Texas OBGYN Physician Workforce Study,” Manatt Health.

Transcript

A full transcript of this episode is available here. This transcript was AI-generated and has not been through editorial review.

About ‘Texas Briefing’

 “Texas Briefing” brings expert insights to the policy challenges shaping life in the Lone Star State. Through topical miniseries, institute scholars and their guests untangle issues in health, the economy, climate resilience, and more to understand how policy matters are impacting communities from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.

Select episodes of our “Baker Briefing” and “Texas Briefing” podcasts are recorded in front of a live studio audience at Rice University in Houston, Texas. These recordings are free and open to the public. To learn about upcoming recordings and other public programming from the Baker Institute, subscribe to our “Events Digest” newsletter, delivered weekly.

This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.