Three years later U.S. Supreme Court Roe V Wade has been overturned, national abortion rights have been removed, and paving the way for banning the program, the number of abortions performed in the United States is still rising – including in some states Prohibited procedures.
According to new data from #Wecount, abortion providers in the United States conducted 1.14 million abortions in 2024, a family planning program that the association has tracked abortion supply since 2022. This is the highest number recorded in recent years.
“We were really surprised to see these numbers increase over time,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a professor at the University of California, University of San Francisco. “The abortion ban has not really stopped people from needing abortion care. It just makes it difficult for them to get them.”
Although most abortions recorded in the #Wecount report are conducted in person, more and more abortions occur through telemedicine, including patients living in one of more than a dozen states The ban almost all abortions. In telemedicine abortion, patients usually meet with the provider almost before receiving the abortion pill via mail. By December 2023, 19% of abortions were performed through telemedicine – but by December 2024, that had risen to 25%.
In the last three months of 2024 alone, more than 70,000 abortions were performed through telemedicine. These abortions are particularly popular in states such as Montana, Nevada, and Hawaii.
Most of the increase in telemedicine abortion can be attributed to transmission “Shield Law”. These controversial laws aim to protect abortion providers to have been enacted by at least eight states since Roe’s fall, aiming to protect abortion providers prosecuting women in various states.
In the past two years, demand for Shield legal abortion has surged. When the first Shield legal abortion provider began operations in July 2023, they provided less than 6,000 abortions to people living in nearly all states that have abortions or restricted telemedicine abortions. In December 2024, these providers underwent nearly 14,000 abortions.
“There are more abortions in Mississippi today than they did before Dobbs,” said Dr. Angel Foster, co-founder of the Massachusetts Drug Abortion Visit Program (MAP). “It does show that some people are nearly impossible to do temporary abortion care before Dobbs, and how Shield Law’s provisions and telehealth can really get into the field.”
#wecount also collects information on how many abortions have been reported by government authorities in the 2024 abortion ban. On average, states that completely ban abortions have only 30 face-to-face abortions per month.
All abortion bans allow for an abortion in emergencies, but activists have long believed that exceptions to the ban were written so narrowly and vaguely that they were not feasible in practice. Since Ro fell, Dozens of women stand up Say they are Refuse emergency abortion.
In Upadhyay, the #Wecount data supports the statement that exceptions do not work.
“It seems to be very low,” Upadhyay said. “I think this is something that countries that are banned by abortion should pay attention to and focus on.”
The future of Shield Law is now in doubt as anti-abortion activists are trying to test them Durability in court. Texas has sued New York doctors for mailing abortion pills to a Texas woman, while Louisiana accused the same doctor of allegedly mailing pills to the state.
Mifepristone, the common abortion drug, was also attacked. FDA Commissioner Martin Makary and U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F Kennedy Jr called for a “review” of Mifepristone, which is commonly used for telemedicine abortions – Deemed safe More than 100 studies conducted in dozens of countries. Special quote from Kennedy A result Flawed analysis of the anti-abortion group push That claim The incidence of complications of mifepristone is higher than previously known.
Kennedy sued Missouri Senator Josh Hawley at a congressional hearing, and Kennedy sued Missouri Senator Josh Hawley at a congressional hearing.
But for now, Foster remains optimistic about the future of her work.
“There will be a point where growth will stop. There is a limited number of people with abortions every year,” Foster said. “But I do think that in our practice, in the field of shield law, we expect demand to continue to grow.”
Health & Wellness Contributor
A wellness enthusiast and certified nutrition advisor, Meera covers everything from healthy living tips to medical breakthroughs. Her articles aim to inform and inspire readers to live better every day.
