Abortions dropped by nearly 96% in the thirteen states with bans compared to the months before Roe v. Wade was overturned, a report released Tuesday shows.
From July to December 2022, thirteen states with bans in place—Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin—saw an average of 7,235 fewer abortions per month compared to the April and May before Roe v. Wade was overturned. There was an average of 265 abortions per month in these states during the six-month period, according to the Society for Family Planning’s new report.
States with abortion restrictions also experienced significant declines. Georgia, Ohio and Arizona, which all passed restrictions at various points in pregnancy, saw average post-Dobbs monthly declines of 1,822, 820, and 755, respectively.
Tessa Longbons, a research associate with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, called the report “good news,” noting it is evidence pro-life laws are “saving lives” and “contributing to a drop in abortion nationwide.”
“It means babies are being saved,” she said. “It means women are being protected from the harms of abortion.”
Prior to the Dobbs decision, abortions had been on an upward trend since 2017, according to Guttmacher Institute data. Across the entire country, the report shows there were 5,377 fewer monthly abortions post-Dobbs, dropping from a monthly average of 82,270 before the decision to 77,073 after.
However, states that permit abortion saw an average increase of 1,858 more abortions per month after the Dobbs decision. By December, telehealth clinics in these states were providing an average of 8,540 monthly abortions, up from 3,590 in April.
Longbons said the increase in telehealth abortions is a result of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to “relax” protections and allow abortion pills to be sent through the mail.
The number in the report, she noted, also “doesn’t include the abortion pills that are being shipped illegally”—showing why better oversight is needed and why the Texas lawsuit challenging the FDA’s approval of the abortion pill is “so important.”
Over the six-months post-Dobbs period, the states that saw the greatest increase in abortions were Florida, at 7,190 more; Illinois, at 6,840 more; North Carolina, at 4,730 more; Colorado, at 2,580 more; and Michigan at 2,490 more.
States with the largest decreases were Texas, with 15,540 fewer abortions; Georgia, with 10,930 fewer; Tennessee, with 6,560 fewer; Ohio, with 4,920 fewer; Arizona, with 4,650 fewer; and Louisiana with 4,250 fewer.
Longbons did point out one concerning aspect of the report.
“We really don’t have good data on abortion nationwide,” she said. “We shouldn’t have to rely on surveys of the abortion industry to be able to measure the impact of abortion policy.”
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