Abortion was slightly more common in the U.S. in the first three months of this year than it was before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and cleared the way for states to implement bans, a report released Wednesday found.
A key reason for the increase is that some Democratic-controlled states have passed laws protecting doctors who use telemedicine to see patients in places where abortion is illegal, according to the quarterly #WeCount report for the Society of Family Planning, which supports abortion access.
The data comes for Elections in November where abortion rights advocates hope the issue will drive voters to the polls. In some places, voters will have the chance to enshrine or repeal abortion protections at the state level.
Consequences of the Supreme Court Judgment June 2022 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has changed the way abortion works across the country. The #WeCount data, collected in a monthly survey since April 2022, shows how those offering and requesting abortions have adapted to changing laws.
The study found that abortion rates fell to nearly zero in states that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy and fell by about half in states that ban it after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. Fourteen states maintain bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and four others ban it after about six weeks of pregnancy.
The numbers rose in places where abortion remains legal late into pregnancy, and especially in states like Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico, which border states with bans.
Abortion pills and telemedicine play a major role. In March, doctors in states with laws protecting medical providers used telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills to nearly 10,000 patients in states with bans or restrictions on telehealth abortions — accounting for about 1 in 10 abortions in the U.S.
Laws protecting health care providers who use telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills went into effect in several Democratic-led states last year.
“It lightens the burden on clinics,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and co-leader of #WeCount. “So it creates more space for the people who come to clinics.”
Opponents of abortion say the battle over the abortion drug mifepristone is not over yet after a scary ruling from the Supreme Court which temporarily preserved access to the law. But so far, there have been no legal challenges to protect laws.
The latest edition of the survey covers the first three months of this year. January was the first time since the survey began that more than 100,000 abortions were performed nationwide in a single month.
Before the shield laws came into effect and #WeCount started counting them, people were still getting pills in places where there was a ban.
Upadhyay said that even before Roe was overturned, demand for abortions outstripped access. She also said that even with the changing patterns, some women are continuing pregnancies they would have terminated if they could.
One of the states where abortions increased was Florida. That changed in Aprilwhen a ban after six weeks of pregnancy went into effect. The data do not yet reflect that change.
The policy could change again on a November ballot that would make abortion legal until viability, generally considered to be about 23 or 24 weeks into pregnancy. It would take at least 60 percent approval to add that to the state constitution.
One dissenting vote will come from Mia Adkins, a 20-year-old senior at Florida International University. She said the overturning of Roe and changes to Florida law have brought more attention to abortion and reinforced her belief that there should be limits.
“Instead of advocating for more legalization of abortion later in pregnancy, we should be advocating for laws that protect these pregnant parents and students and provide them with the support they need,” said Akins, a senior at Florida International University.
Florida is one of six states where abortion-related measures are already on the ballot. Election officials are deciding whether to add similar questions in four other states. In one of those states, Nebraska, there are split amendments: one to allow access up to viability and one to keep the current policy, which bans most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Abortion rights advocates have won all seven U.S. abortion ballot questions since 2022, consistent with polls showing growing support for abortion rights, including a recent Associated Press-NORC Poll which found that 6 in 10 Americans believe their state should offer someone the option of a legal abortion if they do not want to become pregnant for whatever reason.
A amendment to protect access could be on the ballot in Arizona, a political battleground state where lawsuits have upended abortion policy — and access — since the Dobbs ruling.
The state Supreme Court ruled in April that Arizona must uphold an 1864 ban on abortions at all stages of pregnancy, but lawmakers repeal that law. The state’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy remains. The vote would expand it to 24 weeks.
Natalie Harper, a 23-year-old independent who normally does not vote, said the possibility of bringing back Civil War-era Prohibition “absolutely” influenced her decision to go to the polls and support the November ballot. “When I saw that as a possibility, I realized that everyone’s pro-choice voices need to be heard in the hopes that it never goes that way again,” she said.
In Missouri, that almost all abortions banned and where almost none were reported in the new data, election officials could soon certify whether a proposed constitutional amendment guarantee that abortion rights would receive enough signatures to qualify for a ballot in a state where Republicans have held the majority for years.
Peverill Squire, a political scientist at the University of Missouri, said if the measure goes before voters, it could attract enough Democratic voters to sway some competitive legislative elections.
“They can seize on the personal liberty arguments that Republicans have generally used in recent elections,” he said.
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Associated Press reporters Sejal Govindarao in Phoenix and David A. Lieb in Jefferson City, Missouri, contributed to this report.
