New report highlights substantial decrease in number of abortions after Dobbs decision
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Key takeaways :
- There were 32,260 fewer abortions in the 6 months after Dobbs decision vs. monthly average before decision.
- Abortions provided by virtual telehealth clinics increased 137% from April to December 2022.
Following the Dobbs decision, substantial decreases were observed in the number of abortions performed in states with and without abortion bans, according to a national reporting study from the Society of Family Planning.
“The #WeCount data show just how much abortion care has been disrupted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe,” Ushma Upadhyay, PhD, MPH, co-chair of #WeCount and professor at Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health at University of California, San Francisco, said in a related press release. “We know that when someone wants to have an abortion but is unable to get one, the impact on their lives can be devastating, economically, physically, socially and psychologically. Multiply that impact by thousands, and that’s the landscape of abortion access right now.”
Previously, #WeCount reported on abortions performed from April to August 2022 nationally, per month by state, restrictiveness level and geographic region. Now that there are more complete data for April to December 2022, researchers revised the previous report and documented abortions provided by clinics, private medical offices, hospitals and virtual-only clinics in the U.S.
In this national reporting study, researchers created a database of all providers in the U.S. known to offer abortion care in early 2022 and had all identified providers report the monthly number of abortions starting in April 2022, which will continue through July 2023. Overall, the report displays data for 83% of providers in the U.S. who provide abortion care in 27 states, according to the authors. State restrictiveness had two categories with states that banned abortion and states that permitted abortion.
Monthly national abortion rates
Using data from 2 months before the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and revoked the federal right to abortion in June 2022, researchers compared results with those from months after the decision and found 32,260 cumulative fewer abortions from July to December 2022 compared with the average monthly abortions observed before the decision.
In addition, researchers noted an average of 5,377 fewer abortions provided in the U.S. each month in the 6 months after the Dobbs decision, with 4,130 fewer abortions in July, 1,670 fewer in August, 7,430 fewer in September, 7,210 fewer in October, 9,970 fewer in November and 1,850 fewer in December. This decrease dropped the national abortion rate from 13.2 per 1,000 women of reproductive age in April 2022 to 12.3 per 1,000 women for the monthly average of abortions during the 6 months after the Dobbs decision.
Conversely, abortions provided by virtual telehealth clinics increased from 3,610 in April to 8,540 in December 2022, which represents a 137% increase in the number of abortions provided by virtual-only providers. For every month since April, telehealth abortions provided by virtual-only providers increased, which represented 9% of all abortions 6 months after the Dobbs decision. These results suggest a greater percentage of abortions in the U.S. occur through virtual-only clinics compared with before the Dobbs decision in June 2022, according to the researchers.
State-restricted abortion findings
Regarding state restrictiveness, abortion bans were in place for most of the 6-month period after the Dobbs decision in 13 states.
Abortions performed in states banning abortion decreased to fewer than 10 in the 6 months after the Dobbs decision. Also, states banning abortion had a cumulative total of 43,410 fewer women who received abortions. All 13 states banning abortion had a monthly average of 7,235 fewer abortions after the Dobbs decision compared with months prior. Finally, despite telehealth services expanding in states permitting abortion, those with abortion bans had fewer than 10 abortions performed this way by December 2022.
Abortion legality still varies widely among states permitting abortion with some states having 6-week bans and others passing laws protecting abortion access, for example. Since the Dobbs decision, researchers noted a cumulative total of 11,150 more women who received abortions in states permitting abortion. These states also had a monthly average of 1,858 more abortions after the Dobbs decision with virtual-only providers providing 3,590 telehealth abortions. This number of telehealth abortions increased to 8,540 by December 2022.
State-level data
The impact of the decision on the number of abortions provided in the U.S. differs by state. States with the largest increases in total number of abortions performed during the 6 months after the Dobbs decision compared with months prior include the following:
- Florida (7,190 more abortions);
- Illinois (6,840 more abortions);
- North Carolina (4,730 more abortions);
- Colorado (2,580 more abortions); and
- Michigan (2,490 more abortions).
Some of the states with abortion restrictions that were closer in distance to states banning abortion experienced surges in the number of abortions performed, with Minnesota performing 1,820 more abortions and Kansas with 1,240 more abortions. Most states permitting abortion with few restrictions, especially on the West Coast and in the Northeast, did not experience surges in abortions performed during this period.
States with the largest declines in abortions performed during the 6 months after the Dobbs decision compared with months prior include the following:
- Texas (15,540 fewer abortions);
- Georgia (10,930 fewer abortions);
- Tennessee (6,560 fewer abortions);
- Ohio (4,920 fewer abortions);
- Arizona (4,650 fewer abortions); and
- Louisiana (4,250 fewer abortions).
Since the #WeCount report released in October 2022, several states added new abortion bans followed by major decreases in the number of abortions performed. For example, researchers observed 90 abortions provided in April 2022 in West Virginia where a total abortion ban went into effect in September. By December, the monthly estimated abortions performed declined to fewer than 10. In addition, researchers observed 1,180 abortions provided in April 2022 in Tennessee where a total abortion ban went into effect in August. By December, the monthly abortions performed also decreased to fewer than 10.
Other states with abortion bans, like Indiana (940 vs. 550) and Arizona (1,410 vs. 870), had a higher number of abortions performed in April 2022 compared with December 2022 after the Dobbs decision.
“With the massive decreases in abortion access, evidence that people are traveling to other states for care, and the volatility in the numbers of abortions provided by clinicians from month to month, it is clear that we are still reeling from the Dobbs decision, and that abortion access across the country may not stabilize for some time,” Alison Norris, MD, PhD, co-chair of #WeCount and associate professor at the Ohio State University College of Public Health, said in the release.
Reference:
- New report shows major drop in abortion access across the country. www.societyfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/WeCount-Press-Release.pdf. Published April 11, 2023. Accessed April 12, 2023.
Perspective
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As an abortion researcher, not involved with the #WeCount study, I am deeply concerned about the implications of the #WeCount finding that thousands of people have been unable to access abortion care since the Dobbs decision.
At UCSF’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) research program, our Turnaway Study compared the lives of people who received a wanted abortion with those who were denied, or “turned away” from, getting an abortion — following both groups for 5 years to see how their life paths diverged. Because the two groups of abortion-seekers were demographically virtually identical, all the difference in outcomes for the two groups was attributable to whether they got the abortion they sought or not.
In more than 50 peer-reviewed papers published in top medical and social science journals, we found that people denied abortion were more likely to suffer ill physical health for years to come. These physical harms resulting from their continued pregnancy and childbirth included eclampsia, hypertension, chronic pain and even death. Those denied abortion were also more likely to remain tethered to violent partners.
In terms of financial outcomes, participants who could not get the abortion they sought were more likely to live in poverty years later, along with their children. They had a hard time covering even basic expenses like food and housing and were more likely to experience debt, bankruptcies and evictions compared with people who were able to get the abortion they sought.
Science is clear that abortion care is safe, effective and popular. When we deny people this care, it causes very real, long-term harm to physical health and economic well-being. The #WeCount findings serve as a sobering early indication of harms that will continue to pile up if abortion bans and restrictions are allowed to continue blocking access to this safe and vital healthcare service.
Reference:
- The Turnaway Study. https://www.ansirh.org/research/ongoing/turnaway-study. Accessed April 27, 2023.
Collapse
Society of Family Planning. #WeCount Report: April 2022 to December 2022. www.societyfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WeCountReport_April2023Release.pdf. Published April 11, 2023. Accessed April 13, 2023.
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