Abortions Have Only Become More Prevalent

Abortion bans haven't decreased the prevalence of the practice in the US overall. Abortions have increased nationwide as well as in nearly every state that has banned abortion since 2020, the New York Times reports, based on "the most comprehensive account of all abortions by state since the overturning of Roe v. Wade." The study by WeCount uses abortion tallies from all known abortion providers in the US as well as estimates in states that do not provide data. These are compared with 2020 clinic survey data supplied by the Guttmacher Institute.

• The numbers: Nationwide, there were about 587,000 abortions in the first six months of this year, a more than 12% increase from the same period in 2023, per the Times. There were about 98,000 per month on average, compared with 88,000 in late 2023, per Al Jazeera. Nearly 80% were provided in-person, CNN reports.

• By state: Comparing a six-month period of 2020 and 2023, the study found abortions increased 57% in West Virginia, 51% in Oklahoma, 38% in Tennessee, 16% in Mississippi, 15% in Alabama, 14% in Missouri, and 13% in Idaho and Kentucky.
• 'A surprise to everyone': "I think most people thought there would be creativity and determination that would still get a lot of people abortions once Roe v. Wade was overturned," Drexel University law professor David S. Cohen tells the Times. "But I don't think anyone thought it would stay the same, let alone go up."
• Shield laws: Laws allowing medical professionals to prescribe abortion pills to patients in states where abortion is restricted enabled more than 9,700 abortions each month in the spring of 2024, compared with 5,700 abortions per month in the summer of 2023, per CNN.

• Telehealth abortions: This past June, one in five abortions involved pills prescribed via telehealth, compared with one in 25 abortions in April 2022, per the AP. About 50% of telehealth abortion pill prescriptions now go to patients in states that ban or restrict the prescriptions.
• Texas: In the second half of 2023, some 12,400 Texas women accessed abortions through shield laws, "more than any other state," per CNN. However, abortions in a six-month period fell by about 4% in the Lonestar State from 2020 to 2023.
• Factors: Telehealth abortions are fueling the increase. Other factors include new clinics and widespread publicity, which may have decreased stigma around the issue of abortion, the Times reports, adding the "increases could stall or reverse under a different presidential administration, or a major court decision."

(More abortion stories.)