“Every life saved,” right?
Between April and August, the number of monthly abortions performed in the United States decreased by more than 5,000 following the ban or restriction of the procedure by several states after the Supreme Court overturned precedent Roe v. Wade. Data from activist group Society of Family Planning now shows safe haven locations that some abortions have shifted to following the decision.
Illinois and North Carolina emerged as the biggest of such safe haven states. An estimated 1,520 and 1,170 more monthly abortions, respectively, were performed in the states in August compared to April. Despite a ban on abortions after 15 weeks that came into effect on July 1, Florida also saw an increase in abortions – an estimated 520 more per month – in the given time frame. This was likely because of states in the vicinity passing even harsher bans. New York state also saw monthly abortion numbers go up by an estimated 990, potentially due to its vicinity to Ohio, where 1,260 fewer abortions took place in August than in April.
However, shifts in abortions did not make up for overall decreases. Abortions were outlawed or heavily restricted in some populous states which led to thousands fewer taking place every month in Ohio, but also in Texas (-2,760) and Georgia (-2,500). The makers of the report point out that traveling to receive an abortion is not a new phenomenon as access to the procedure and the laws around it varied widely in the U.S. even before the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In 2020, an average of 9 percent of those receiving an abortion already traveled out of state. The report also says that due to the now increased travel activity and a concentration on some states, longer wait times for abortions occurred in 2022.
https://www.statista.com/chart/28783/change-in-the-monthly-number-of-abortions-in-us/