The Monthly Abortion Provision Study is supported by:
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development,
- Office of Research on Women’s Health,
- Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research of the National Institutes of Health, under award number R61HD112921.
- The content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
WHAT WE'RE TRACKING
The Monthly Abortion Provision Study collects data on procedural and medication abortions provided at brick-and-mortar health facilities (such as clinics or doctor’s offices), as well as medication abortions provided via telehealth and virtual providers.
The data currently show:
The number of abortions provided by the US health care system (first tab)
Change in the number of abortions since 2020 (second tab)
In future months, this study will also provide estimates of the proportion of abortions that are obtained by patients traveling across state lines for care and estimates of abortion incidence by gestational duration.
Monthly Abortion Provision Study
The Monthly Abortion Provision Study produces national and state estimates of the number of abortions provided within the formal health care system in the United States. This ongoing project reveals current trends and aims to put timely data in the hands of policymakers, advocates and providers. For information on using our interactive graphics, view the “How to” section below.
HOW TO READ THE DATA
The first graphic above shows the estimated number of abortions provided in each state for each month since January 2023.
- Abortions are counted as having been provided in the state in which a patient either had a procedure or where pills were dispensed.
- The graphic shows the median estimate for each month along with a range that describes the uncertainty:
- A bigger range means that estimate is more uncertain for a specific state and month, while a smaller range indicates that the estimate is more precise.
- Data from 2020 is from our most recent Abortion Provider Census, which gathers comprehensive data on US national and state-level abortion incidence and care; to estimate a comparable period, we assume that abortion caseloads for January–June 2020 were equivalent to 50% of the abortion caseload for each state in that year.
HOW WE COLLECT THE DATA
The Monthly Abortion Provision Study leverages an innovative methodology—monthly collection of data from samples of abortion providers—to produce timely estimates of abortion care provided in the formal health care system.
- The primary aim of the study’s design is to meet the need for up-to-date data on the impact of rapidly changing state abortion policies while minimizing the burden we place on providers.
- Estimates are generated by a statistical model that combines data collected from monthly samples of providers with historical data on the caseload of every provider in the United States; as more data is collected each month, estimates for past months become more precise.
- GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE.org
Read More
New State Abortion Data Indicate Widespread Travel for Care
Guttmacher Launches New Research Initiative to Track Monthly State Abortion Occurrence in the United States
Roe v. Wade Overturned: Our Latest Resources
RELATED
New state abortion numbers show increases in some surprising places
People seeking an abortion are "highly motivated" to travel if they can't get abortions where they live.
That's one conclusion from a study from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy group that supports reproductive rights.
That's one conclusion from a study from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy group that supports reproductive rights.
Another striking finding: In Illinois, there were 18,300 more abortions in the first half of this year compared to 2020.
"If you're interested in where people are going, then I think the numbers tell a big part of that story because it represents a lot of people traveling," says Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a data scientist at the Guttmacher Institute.
Illinois already provided a lot of abortions in the past, and the number increased by 69%.
"The percentage increase, I think, is also important because it does speak to the potential strain this puts on providers capacity to provide care," he says.
In New Mexico, there was a whopping 220% jump in the number of abortions.
Both New Mexico and Illinois have enacted laws to protect access to abortion. Their geography is another key factor.
"What we're seeing is really big increases in states that border ban states," Maddow-Zimet says.
There were also small increases in states bordering ban states that have not positioned themselves as havens for access, including in Montana and Wyoming, which border the Dakotas. Ohio, which has its own ban on hold, also saw a slight increase. It borders Kentucky and West Virginia, which have no abortion access.
States with abortion bans do allow an extremely small number of abortions, if they meet certain exceptions. This year in Texas, for instance, there have been four abortions on average each month — in 2020, that number was about 4,800 per month. (A lawsuit alleges that Texas's medical emergency exception is too narrow and prevents or delays care that's medically indicated.)
To estimate how the number of abortions has changed in each state, Guttmacher got data from a sample of providers every month and combined it with historical caseload data to create a model estimating abortion counts for January to June of this year. Then, for each state, researchers compared that estimate with the number of abortions provided in 2020, divided by two to represent a comparable six-month period.
One big caveat of this research is that it only measured abortions that happened in clinics, hospitals and doctor's offices, Maddow-Zimet says. "We do not attempt to measure counts of self-managed abortions, where somebody might be, for example, ordering pills from a pharmacy outside of the U.S., or obtaining them from a community network," he says.
He also notes that not all of the changes can be traced directly to last year's Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. "2020 was a long time ago and a lot has happened since then," he says. The COVID pandemic, and expanded telehealth, and a trend of increase in overall abortions that had already begun, all no doubt contributed to how state abortion numbers have changed to different degrees.
Guttmacher has put all of this data online, and they plan to keep updating it in nearly real time, Maddow-Zimet says. Soon they will publish data showing how new bans in Indiana and South Carolina, and a 12-week ban in North Carolina further change how people move around the country to access abortion.
"If you're interested in where people are going, then I think the numbers tell a big part of that story because it represents a lot of people traveling," says Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a data scientist at the Guttmacher Institute.
Illinois already provided a lot of abortions in the past, and the number increased by 69%.
"The percentage increase, I think, is also important because it does speak to the potential strain this puts on providers capacity to provide care," he says.
In New Mexico, there was a whopping 220% jump in the number of abortions.
Both New Mexico and Illinois have enacted laws to protect access to abortion. Their geography is another key factor.
"What we're seeing is really big increases in states that border ban states," Maddow-Zimet says.
There were also small increases in states bordering ban states that have not positioned themselves as havens for access, including in Montana and Wyoming, which border the Dakotas. Ohio, which has its own ban on hold, also saw a slight increase. It borders Kentucky and West Virginia, which have no abortion access.
States with abortion bans do allow an extremely small number of abortions, if they meet certain exceptions. This year in Texas, for instance, there have been four abortions on average each month — in 2020, that number was about 4,800 per month. (A lawsuit alleges that Texas's medical emergency exception is too narrow and prevents or delays care that's medically indicated.)
To estimate how the number of abortions has changed in each state, Guttmacher got data from a sample of providers every month and combined it with historical caseload data to create a model estimating abortion counts for January to June of this year. Then, for each state, researchers compared that estimate with the number of abortions provided in 2020, divided by two to represent a comparable six-month period.
One big caveat of this research is that it only measured abortions that happened in clinics, hospitals and doctor's offices, Maddow-Zimet says. "We do not attempt to measure counts of self-managed abortions, where somebody might be, for example, ordering pills from a pharmacy outside of the U.S., or obtaining them from a community network," he says.
He also notes that not all of the changes can be traced directly to last year's Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. "2020 was a long time ago and a lot has happened since then," he says. The COVID pandemic, and expanded telehealth, and a trend of increase in overall abortions that had already begun, all no doubt contributed to how state abortion numbers have changed to different degrees.
Guttmacher has put all of this data online, and they plan to keep updating it in nearly real time, Maddow-Zimet says. Soon they will publish data showing how new bans in Indiana and South Carolina, and a 12-week ban in North Carolina further change how people move around the country to access abortion.
Edited by Diane Webber; Graphics by Alyson Hurt
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