Abortion has become slightly more common despite bans or deep restrictions in most Republican-controlled states, and the legal and political fights over its future are not over yet.
It’s now been two and a half years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door for states to implement bans.
The policies and their impact have been in flux ever since the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Here’s a look at data on where things stand:
Abortions are slightly more common now than before Dobbs
Overturning Roe and enforcing abortion bans has changed how woman obtain abortions in the U.S.
But one thing it hasn’t done is put a dent in the number of abortions being obtained.
There have been slightly more monthly abortions across the country recently than there were in the months leading up to the June 2022 ruling, even as the number in states with bans dropped to near zero.
“Abortion bans don’t actually prevent abortions from happening,” said Ushma Upadhyay, a public health social scientist at the University of California San Francisco.
But, she said, they do change care.
For women in some states, there are major obstacles to getting abortions — and advocates say that low-income, minority and immigrant women are least likely to be able to get them when they want.
For those living in states with bans, the ways to access abortion are through travel or abortion pills.
Pills become a bigger part of equation — and the legal questions
As the bans swept in, abortion pills became a bigger part of the equation.
They were involved in about half the abortions before Dobbs. More recently, it’s been closer to two-thirds of them, according to research by the Guttmacher Institute.
The uptick of that kind of abortion, usually involving a combination of two drugs, was underway before the ruling.
But now, it’s become more common for pill prescriptions to be made by tele health. By the summer of 2024, about 1 in 10 abortions was via pills prescribed via health to patients in states where abortion is banned.
By Associated Press
