Number of Abortions Performed Per Month in U.S. Unchanged Since Fall of Roe v. Wade

The historic overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 has not had any significant effect on the number of abortions performed each month in the United States, new data shows.

The #WeCount report tracks abortion rates across the country for the nonprofit Society of Family Planning, a group promoting research on abortion and contraception.

It found that between 81,150 and 88,620 abortions took place each month between July and September of 2023 (the most recent period for which numbers are available).

That’s only a slight decline from the monthly average of about 86,800 abortions performed from April through June 2022 — just before Roe v. Wade was overturned.

The report also found that, increasingly, women are turning to medical abortion (pills) instead of surgical procedures. Pills now account for one-sixth of all abortions, according to the most recent data.

All of this could mean that, “even when a state bans abortion, people continue to need and seek abortion care,” report co-chair Alison Norris, a professor at Ohio State University’s 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.”

Despite the lack of change in numbers, the report estimates that 120,000 more abortions would have happened over the survey period in the 14 states where the procedure is now banned, had bans not been put in place.

Women who need an abortion may simply be traveling, the report suggests. It found a rise in the number of abortions performed in certain states (Florida, Illinois and Kansas) that border states that have bans in effect.

More information

Find out more about the availability of abortion in the United States at the Guttmacher Institute.

SOURCE: #WeCount, Society for Family Planning, report, Feb. 28, 2024

Source: HealthDay