On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade, which eliminated the constitutional “right” to an abortion in the U.S. The decision allows the states to enact pro-life or pro-abortion laws.
The ruling changed the abortion outlook in the U.S. As a result of that Supreme Court decision, over 10 states enacted laws to protect the unborn. At the same time, pro-abortion states moved to make abortion a “constitutional right” and legal during all nine months of pregnancy. State pro-life laws are preventing some abortions. Still, pro-abortion states are counteracting these pro-life laws by promoting the abortion pill and encouraging women to cross state lines to receive abortions.
What are the current abortion numbers?
According to a new study by the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), over 1.1 million abortions by licensed providers occurred in the US from July 2023 to June 2024. Additionally, more abortions occurred in 2023 than in 2020 (an increase of 11%). How can abortion rates be rising when the Supreme Court decision allowed over 10 states to enact laws to protect life?
The Dobbs decision should have decreased the number of abortions. New data shows that abortions within the healthcare system decreased in the months after the Dobbs decision. But those decreased abortion numbers were erased in 2023 and 2024.
According to the CLI study, “A media report similarly noted that enough abortion drugs had been ordered from other countries to neutralize and even counteract the brief decline in abortions reported in 2022. The hypothesis that total abortions would inevitably decrease post-Dobbs did not account for the questionable legal strategies pro-abortion states were willing to implement which only exposed and exploited loopholes in pro-life laws. From taking advantage of the FDA’s pre-Dobbs decision to allow mail-order telehealth abortions with no in-person requirement, to shipping abortion drugs into pro-life states from pro-abortion states under shield laws, to deeming certain states “abortion havens,” pro-abortion states have circumvented the inability of women in pro-life states to obtain brick-and-mortar abortions.”
In other words, the lower rate of abortions within the healthcare system, was quickly replaced by a higher number of women using the abortion pill outside the healthcare system, often with no medical provider involvement.
The study is an estimation of how many abortions have occurred because abortion providers are not required to report abortion statistics. Also, there is no way to accurately track how many women are using the abortion pill or ordering the drugs online from foreign abortion providers.
Karen Czarnecki, executive director of CLI, said: “Our country’s lack of federal abortion reporting requirements has always raised the question: ‘How many abortions are occurring in the U.S.?’ CLI spent the last few months going through many data sources, combining and comparing them, to come up with the most up-to-date and inclusive estimate. No one has done a systematic review like this before.”
Where are women receiving abortions?
According to study, “As of February 2025, surgical and/or drug-induced abortions were performed at 777 brick-and-mortar centers across America, while mail-order, drug-induced abortions were accessible through 142 different U.S.-based organizations or centers, and 8 websites or organizations operating outside the formal U.S. health care system. There is no federal mandatory abortion reporting requirement in the United States, and only pro-abortion organizations are provided data from abortion centers. This leaves other research groups to only observe and analyze data from third parties instead of having access to the same raw data as pro-abortion organizations.”
What other factors affect the increase in abortions?
In 2020, the FDA stopped enforcing an in-person doctor visit requirement to receive the abortion pill. At the time, they claimed this decision was made due to COVID-19 restrictions. In 2021, this change was made official, and women could receive abortion drugs through the mail after a telehealth appointment. In the last four years, more online centers have begun to distribute abortion drugs all over the country, with no medical oversight.
In 2024, 20% of the nation’s abortions resulted from online telehealth dispensing of the abortion pill. The abortion pill was used in 63% of all abortions reported in 2023.
According to the study, “existing laws do not allow mail-order abortion drugs from overseas (outside the U.S. formal healthcare system) or mailing abortion drugs within the formal healthcare system. However, the laws prohibiting the mailing of abortion drugs are not being enforced.”
In addition to easy access to abortion drugs online, another contributing factor to higher abortion rates is the adoption of shield laws in many states. Shield laws are designed to protect abortionists from professional and legal liability in performing abortions on or providing abortion drugs to women from states that restrict abortion. These laws have encouraged women to cross state lines to receive abortions or abortion drugs.
Ramifications of shield laws are not widely reported, but one death is known to have occurred. In 2022, a Georgia woman traveled to North Carolina to receive an abortion. She missed her appointment but was given the abortion pill instead. She tragically died of sepsis after an incomplete abortion. The hospital that treated her blamed Georgia’s pro-life laws for causing her death. However, the hospital waited 19 hours to perform surgery to remove the remaining fetal tissue, which caused sepsis. If it were not for these dangerous abortion drugs, this young woman would be alive today. This is just one example of the harm being done to women (and babies) by the abortion pill.
Mercy is on the frontlines to educate women on the risks of abortion and the abortion pill. Other organizations promoting abortion medication are lying to women. Taking the abortion pill is not like taking a Tylenol. As time goes on, we expect to have more women contact Mercy for help after experiencing a medication abortion using abortion drugs. We need your support and partnership as we stand for the truth and give women accurate information about pregnancy and their options.
https://lozierinstitute.org/how-many-abortions-are-occurring-in-america-post-dobbs/
