Topline
The number of abortions performed in the U.S. fell just 2% in 2022, the year the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which protected reproductive rights for almost 50 years, a new report from the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention shows, while data from other agencies shows the rate rose in 2023 despite the wave of state bans that followed the ruling.
Key Facts
The CDC reported that 613,383 abortions were performed by providers in 48 reporting areas in 2022, a roughly 2% decrease from the 622,108 abortions reported in 2021 (Roe was overturned in June 2022).
The vast majority of abortions took place at or before nine weeks of pregnancy, according to the CDC, with 6% performed between 14 and 20 weeks and about 1% at or after 21 weeks of pregnancy, often described as a “late term” abortion.
Women in their 20s accounted for the bulk of abortion patients, with the lowest rates found in those under 15 years old and women over 40.
White and Black women accounted for the highest percentages of all abortions (31.9% and 39.5%, respectively), and unmarried women accounted for nearly 88% of the procedures.
Almost 60% of abortion patients had previously given birth, and 44% had previously had an abortion (this data was based on reporting from 41 areas, not including California or New York City).
The 2022 data is the latest available by the CDC, but other groups, like the Guttmacher Institute, have also released reports on 2023 data that suggest abortion rates rose in the year after Roe was overturned—to the highest recorded number in more than a decade (1,037,000).
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Contra
The CDC report does not include data from California, Maryland, New Hampshire and New Jersey, and some states that do provide overall numbers don’t provide the CDC with demographic data on their abortion patients. The data also does not include figures on abortions performed by unlicensed providers or outside of the US healthcare system. The Guttmacher Institute research does include data from California, Maryland, New Hampshire and New Jersey.
Key Background
The Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision established a woman’s right to choose an abortion nationwide and protected that right from January of 1973 to June of 2022, when it was overturned by a vote of 5-4. The number of abortions in the U.S. jumped immediately following the 1973 decision and peaked in 1990, according to the Brookings Institute, before falling off for more than two decades and reaching its lowest post-Roe point in 2017. In 1990, 1.6 million abortions were performed in the U.S., according to Brookings data, which fell to 862,000 in 2017 and has steadily risen since. When Roe was overturned, it kicked the decision on if and when abortion is legal back to individual states and 21 states have since banned or restricted the procedure. States that still allow abortions have seen spikes in visits from residents of nearby states that don’t, and data show the Supreme Court decision did little to actually curb the number of procedures.
Tangent
Women in states that heavily restrict abortion have come forward about their medical experiences since Roe v. Wade was overturned. A 28-year-old named Amber Thurman died from complications from abortion pills after Georgia’s six-week abortion ban prevented her from getting the surgical abortion she wanted. Two women in Texas have said they were denied treatment for their ectopic pregnancies over doctors’ fear of violating the state’s strict abortion ban. The delay in care led to each woman losing a fallopian tube, which will make it harder to conceive in the future without the help of in vitro fertilization. An election ad for President Joe Biden featured a Texas woman named Amanda Zurawski who sued the state after she almost died from a miscarriage at 18 weeks pregnant. She developed sepsis and, due to the infection, may never be able to conceive another child.
Further Reading
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