Study: Abortions rose in states with, without bans after Dobbs decision
June 23 (UPI) -- Abortions in the United States increased despite the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, according to a report released Monday by the Society of Family Planning.
The international nonprofits #WeCount study found that around 1.1 million abortions were performed by licensed clinicians in 2024, up from 1.06 million in 2023.
Of the procedures performed in 2024, 25% were completed via Telehealth, which has risen from just 5% in the second quarter of 2022. The other abortions took place in brick-and-mortar clinics.
Co-Chair and professor at Ohio State University's College of Public Health and co-principal investigator of the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network Dr. Alison Norris said the findings "make clear that abortion bans haven't stopped people from seeking care."
"As care shifts across state lines and into telehealth care," she said. "What's emerging is a deeply fragmented system where access depends on where you live, how much money you have, and whether you can overcome barriers to care."
According to the Society's findings, shield laws, which provide legal protection to clinicians who provide abortion care via telehealth to people in states with bans on abortion or telehealth "continue to facilitate abortion access, especially in states where abortion is banned."
There are eight states that feature such shield laws, and in those states, an average of 12,330 abortions per month were conducted in the final quarter of 2024, an increase of 8,747 over the first quarter of 2024.
However, abortion care has also increased in states where it is banned. Under shield protections, Texas has seen the highest number of medication abortions via telehealth, with an average of 3,427 monthly at the end of 2024.
The Society of Family Planning further found Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Texas saw more monthly abortions by the end of 2024 than in the months before the Dobbs Supreme Court decision in 2022. It was the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade, which ruled in 1973 that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an abortion.
"Millions of people live in states where abortion is banned or restricted, and traveling for care isn't an option for everyone," said Co-Founder of the Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project Dr. Angel Foster in the release.
"By providing safe, affordable medication abortion via telemedicine, we make sure people can get the care they need, no matter where they live or what they can afford."
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