Abortion pill use post-Roe v. Wade continues to expand nationwide. A year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it has now been discovered that 63% of abortions are completed through the use of medications like misoprostol and mifepristone.
The first concrete data emerged Tuesday, May 14, on the number of women who accessed abortion pills in 2023 from states with abortion bans now in place.
The survey, put out by #WeCount backed by the Society of Family Planning, found that around 8,000 women a month who live in states with abortion restrictions are able to purchase abortion pills from places without reproductive restrictions with the help of telehealth services.
Abortion Pill Use Surges Post-Roe v. Wade Turnover
Medication abortion has seen a notable rise in the formal U.S. healthcare system, accounting for 63% of all abortions in 2023 compared to 53% in 2020.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, approximately 642,700 medication abortions occurred within this system during the first full calendar year.
According to insight provided by the Guttmacher Institute, in 2023, an estimated 1,026,690 abortions took place in the formal U.S. healthcare system, translating to a rate of 15.7 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age. This reflects a 10% increase in abortion numbers from 2020, marking the highest level observed in over a decade.
The national 10% increase somewhat masks the substantial efforts made by health systems, providers, and support networks, especially in states with restrictive abortion policies. States without total bans saw a 25% rise in abortions in 2023 compared to 2020, with the most significant spikes occurring in states bordering those with bans, where abortions surged by 37% during the same period.
Telehealth Expands Access Nationwide
The #WeCount analysis revealed a monthly average of approximately 86,000 abortions performed in the U.S. during 2023, marking a 4,000 increase per month compared to 2022 figures. This figure excludes the approximately 8,000 abortions accessed monthly under shield laws in the previous year.
Shield laws safeguard healthcare practitioners such as doctors, nurse practitioners, and midwives when prescribing abortion pills in states where access is limited.
The report specifies that Colorado, Massachusetts, Washington, Vermont, and New York are the five states currently protected by shield laws, which have yet to face legal challenges.
Telehealth has assumed a significant role in abortion care, with an estimated 17,000 medical abortions conducted monthly through telehealth services by the end of 2023, encompassing both physical and virtual clinics, as outlined in the report.
Dr. Ushma Upadhya, Co-Chair of #WeCount, emphasized, "Access to medication abortion via telehealth is increasingly vital in nationwide abortion care, especially amidst ongoing deliberations by the Supreme Court on telehealth abortion care."
The necessity for accessible abortion care nationwide underscores the importance of collaborative efforts among providers, advocates, and lawmakers to develop innovative strategies facilitating such access.
#WeCount serves as a national initiative for abortion reporting, aiming to track monthly abortion rates by state following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson's Women's Health Organization.
