Number of monthly abortions about the same as before Roe overturned: Study
The number of abortions occurring nationally each month remained about the same as in the months before the Supreme Court overruled the federal right to an abortion in 2022, according to data released Wednesday.
In the three most recent months of data collected, from July to September 2023, the number of reported abortions each month was between 81,150 and 88,620, according to the #WeCount public report from the Society of Family Planning.
The national monthly average in that period was slightly lower than the preceding three months, from April to June 2023, when the average was about 86,800.
The report notes, however, seasonal variation has an effect on abortion volume and, accordingly, the three-month period of July to September was slightly higher in 2023 than it was in years before Roe v. Wade was overturned.
While the national monthly average remained consistent, the report tracked a significant discrepancy between states with abortion bans and those without.
Fourteen states have passed near-total abortion bans since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022. Those states — including Texas, Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama — have seen the greatest decline in abortion volume.
The data does not include self-managed abortions or those that are conducted outside the traditional health care system.
The report estimates there would have been an additional 120,000 abortions, during the recent three-month period, in states where the reported volume fell close to zero.
The number of abortions nationally remained consistent, largely as a result of the increase in abortions in states without total bans — such as Illinois, Florida and California.
Many of the states that saw an increase were those that bordered states with abortion bans — suggesting some patients could have traveled across state lines for abortion access. But other large, coastal states saw an increase in abortion volume as well, including California, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.
“#WeCount shows that even when a state bans abortion, people continue to need and seek abortion care,” Alison Norris, #WeCount co-chair and professor at The Ohio State University College of Public Health, said in a statement. “We can’t let the overall consistent number of abortions nationally obscure the incredible unmet need and disastrous impact of abortion bans on people who already have the least access.”
The report, for the first time, includes data about telehealth abortions — which, #WeCount announced, now make up 16 percent of all abortions in the nation.
Ushma Upadhyay, #WeCount co-chair and professor at the University of California, San Francisco’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health, pointed to telehealth as a way that “in the post-Dobbs era, healthcare providers in some states are forging innovative new solutions to provide abortion access.”
“Telehealth abortion is now a central pillar in the abortion care landscape — and the continued availability of abortion care demands that we must ensure equitable access to this essential health care service,” Upadhyay added.
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