Researchers attributed the increase to a variety of factors, including some states expanding Medicaid coverage to include abortion services between 2017 and 2020, as well as an increase in donations to nonprofits dedicated to helping people pay for abortion and related costs. They also point to a potential decrease in access to contraceptives during Covid, when health care was disrupted. Before the pandemic, the Trump administration cut Title X funding for women’s health clinics that provided abortions, which reduced access to contraceptive care. The Biden administration reversed the Title X rule last year.
“An increase in the number of abortions is a positive thing if it means that people are getting access to the healthcare that they want and need,” said Guttmacher principal research scientist Rachel Jones.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on a case this month that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which protects the right to an abortion in the US. An estimated 33 million women would lose access to the procedure if the court sticks to a draft ruling that was leaked last month.
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Some states saw dramatic increases in the rate of abortions, possibly due to restrictions or increased hostility to the procedure in neighboring states. Oklahoma saw a 103% increase in abortions provided between 2017 and 2020, for example, likely driven by the restrictions implemented in Missouri, Texas and other states. Oklahoma lawmakers have since implemented a series of restrictions and bans, including a near-total ban on abortion signed by Governor Kevin Stitt last month.
Meanwhile, Illinois saw a 25% increase in services within the same period, when the state allowed Medicaid to cover the procedure. By contrast, Missouri, which shares a border with Illinois and has long restricted access to the procedure, saw abortions decrease 96% in 2020 from 2017, resulting in 170 abortions down from 4,710.
Guttmacher’s Jones said health care providers are concerned about what might happen if the Supreme Court reverses the precedent set by Roe v. Wade. At least 22 states are set to immediately ban abortion should that happen.
“There’s not going to be a neighboring state to go to, it’s going to be banned in the neighboring state as well,” Jones said. “To what extent will people be able to travel three states over or afford a plane ticket to go somewhere else?”
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