United States: The abortion cases performed per month are almost the same as before the US federal court overturned Roe v. Wade, as well as the nationwide right to abortion more than a year and a half ago.
What findings does a new report study reveal?
A new report, #WeCount, was prepared for the Society of Family Planning, a non-profit organization that works for anti-abortion and contraception research, and found that the number of abortions ranged from 81,150 to 88,620 during the last three months of July to September of the year before last that is a few months back.
These numbers, however, were just slightly higher than the 86,800 per month average from April through June 2022, before the ruling and close to the decision being overturned.
However, abortion statistics are seasonal, and the same study showed that there were more abortions throughout the United States in the spring months of 2023 compared to the period the year before the court’s decision was published, as US News reported.
Telemedicine-aided abortions are popular now
The report also indicates that self-managed abortions by telemedicine have become popular, with one of every five abortions in the last three months of undertaken surveys being performed that way.
Alison Norris, a professor at Ohio State University’s College of Public Health and one of the co-chairs of the study, stated, “Even when a state bans abortion, people continue to need and seek abortion care.”
She further added, “We can’t let the overall consistent number of abortions nationally obscure the incredible unmet need and the disastrous impact of abortion bans on people who already have the least access.”
Effect of abortion ban in several US states
The report projects that if states had not been barred from prohibiting termination of pregnancy, 120,000 more would have been made in the 14 states where the ban at all stages of pregnancy was in force during the study period.
The number of monthly abortions in states with bans has gone down to almost zero but continues to rise in states that permit abortion, including Florida, Illinois, and Kansas, which share boundaries with those that ban abortion.
How does tracking of abortions post Roe v. Wade take place?
The tracking effort collects monthly information from providers around the country, resulting in a nationwide picture of abortion incidence after Roe v. Wade turned into a landmark, as US News reported.
In some places, data are approximated by a part of. With a lag of less than six months, the data becomes public, giving you a much faster trend picture than the annual reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that cover abortions in 2021.
Furthermore, the report is limited by counting just safe abortion care obtained within the formal healthcare system, which means it did not cover the ones who have taken pills prescribed by a doctor, obtain them on the black market, or take them from friends without a prescription, as US News reported.
Game changer Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court ruling
The Dobbs v. Jackson decision of the Supreme Court that was issued in June 2022 was a game-changer that triggered alterations to some of the state laws.
At present, five states have laws illustrated as complete bans on pregnancy termination at all stages, and another two have laws starting the bans after the first week, after which a woman is very likely to find out she is pregnant. Other Republican-managed states have put in place fewer restrictions with lighter requirements.
The application of certain bans has been challenged, and court orders were issued to suspend enforcement.
In contrast, almost all Democrat-run states have undertaken measures to ensure abortion is available to women. Many of them have executive orders or statutes that are meant to keep states that have restrictions from reaching over state enterprises in pursuing abortion-related investigations, as US News reported.
Finally, five more — Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Washington — have statutes you can guarantee for providers who give care about abortion by telehealth.
The report’s overall numbers include cases where providers in those states prescribed medication abortion to patients in states with abortion bans or pill restrictions in its national count, but it does not separate the number of each by state.
Mifepristone, one of the two approved drugs most widely prescribed to cause abortions, is under review in the Supreme Court today.