Abortions up in US despite state bans, driven by telehealth services

The number of abortions in the United States has actually grown since the Supreme Court allowed states to enact strict bans on the procedure, according to a study released Wednesday.

Survey results reported by the Society of Family Planning (SFP), which advocates for abortion access, showed a monthly average of 98,990 for the first quarter of 2024, a increase above 2022 and 2023 figures.

The group attributed a significant part of the rise to broader access to abortion pills through online telehealth services.

It said the proportion of abortions nationwide occurring via telehealth had increased from four to 20 percent nationwide since April 2022.

The conservative-dominated US Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortions in June 2022, with many Republican-led states quickly moving to restrict or outright ban the procedure.

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However, some Democratic-led states have enacted so-called “shield laws” that give legal protections to doctors providing telehealth services to patients in states with restrictions.

Even excluding abortions provided under shield laws, “we still observe more abortions per month in January-March 2024 (monthly average of 89,770 abortions) as compared to the same period January-March 2023 (monthly average of 86,967 abortions),” SFP said in its #WeCount report.

Meanwhile under shield laws, the report found a monthly average of 9,200 abortions were provided in January-March 2024, a 16 percent increase from the prior quarter.

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The SFP survey nonetheless found significant declines in states that have passed bans since the fall of Roe v Wade, the largest being Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama.

Twenty-two states now have stricter abortion laws in effect since Roe was struck down, and the issue is set to be a key factor in November’s elections.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has pledged to sign nationwide protections into law if elected, while hammering Republican rival Donald Trump over his role in reversing Roe.

Trump appointed three of the six conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the nearly half-century Roe precedent.

While Trump has not committed to signing a nationwide ban if back in the White House, abortion rights advocates fear he could use a 19th century law to crack down on the procedure.

Conservative groups are also seeking to outlaw abortion pills by challenging federal authorization of the drugs.

The Supreme Court unanimously rejected one such challenge in June, but left the door open to possible future cases.