Abortion rates in the U.S. have risen slightly since Roe v. Wade was overturned, new study finds

Abortion was slightly more common across the United States in the first three months of this year than it was before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to enact bans, a report released Wednesday found.

A major reason for the escalate is the passage of laws in some Democratic-majority states to protect doctors who utilize telemedicine to see patients in places where abortion is illegal, according to the quarterly #WeCount report from the Society of Family Planning, which advocates for abortion access.

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The data comes in the run-up to the November election, where abortion-rights advocates hope the issue will sway voters to the polls. In some places, voters will have a chance to establish or reject abortion protections at the state level.

The fallout from the June 2022 Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has changed the way abortion is operated across the country. #WeCount data, collected in a monthly survey since April 2022, shows how abortion providers and those seeking abortions have adapted to the changing rules.

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The study found that abortion rates fell to nearly zero in states that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy, but fell by half in places that ban abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant. Fourteen states enforce abortion bans at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions, and four others ban them after about six weeks of pregnancy.

The numbers have risen in places where abortion is legal until later in pregnancy — especially in states like Illinois, Kansas and New Mexico that border states with bans.

Abortion pills and telemedicine play a key 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 telemedicine abortions — accounting for about 1 in 10 abortions in the U.S.

Laws aimed at protecting health care providers who utilize telemedicine to prescribe abortion pills took effect last year in some Democratic-dominated states.

“It takes pressure off the clinics,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine who co-leads #WeCount. “So it creates more space for people to come into the clinics.”

Abortion opponents say the fight over the abortion drug mifepristone is not over after a narrow Supreme Court ruling that has preserved access to it for now. But there have been no legal challenges to protect the rights.

The latest edition of the study covers the first three months of this year. January was the first month since the study began that recorded more than 100,000 abortions nationwide in a single month.

Before shield laws came into effect and #WeCount started counting them, people were still getting the pills in places where bans were in place.

Upadhyay said that even before Roe fell, the demand for abortions was greater than the availability of them. She also said that even with changing patterns, some women continue pregnancies that they would have ended if they could.

One state that saw an escalate in abortions was Florida. That changed in April when it banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The data doesn’t yet reflect that change.

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The policy could change again with a November ballot measure that would make abortion legal up to the point of viability, which is generally considered to be around 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy. Adding it to the state constitution would require at least 60% support.

The one no vote will come from Mia Adkins, a 20-year-old senior at Florida International University. She said the repeal of Roe and changes to Florida law have brought more attention to abortion and strengthened her belief that there should be restrictions.

“Instead of pushing for the legalization of late-term abortion, we should be pushing for legislation that will protect these pregnant mothers and college students and provide them with the support they need,” said Akins, a senior at Florida International University.

Florida is one of six states with abortion-related measures already on the ballot. Election officials are deciding whether to add similar questions in four more states. One, Nebraska, has two opposing amendments: one to allow access until viability is achieved and the other to maintain the current policy, which bans most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Abortion rights supporters have won all seven questions about abortion in the U.S. as of 2022. That’s consistent with public opinion polls that have shown growing support for abortion rights, including a recent Associated Press-NORC poll that found 6 in 10 Americans believe their state should allow someone to have a legal abortion if they don’t want to be pregnant for any reason.

Some patch to protect access could end up on the ballot in Arizona, a political battleground state where court decisions have influenced abortion policy — and access to it — since the Dobbs ruling.

The state Supreme Court ruled in April that Arizona should enforce an 1864 ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, but lawmakers could overturn that law. The state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy remains. The ballot measure would extend it to 24 weeks.

Natalie Harper, a 23-year-old independent who doesn’t typically vote, said the possibility of reinstating the Civil War-era ban “absolutely” influences her decision to go to the polls and support the legislative initiative in November. “Seeing that as a possibility really made me realize that all pro-choice voices need to be heard in hopes that we never go down that road again,” she said.

In the state of Missouri, which has almost all abortions were banned and almost none were reported in the new data, so election officials could soon confirm whether proposed constitutional amendment A petition guaranteeing the right to abortion has collected enough signatures to get on the ballot in the Republican-majority state.

Peverill Squire, a political scientist at the University of Missouri, said the bill, if put before voters, could attract enough Democratic voters to help win several competitive general elections.

“They can use the personal liberty arguments that Republicans generally made in the last election,” he said.