Healthcare

SCOTUS’ Smackdown Of Roe Is Already Leading To Fewer Abortions

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Nearly 10,000 fewer abortions were performed in the two months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade June 24, according to the Society of Family Planning (SFP).

Nationwide, legal abortions declined 6% as new abortion restrictions went into effect in 13 states, according to the SFP study. States without new abortion restrictions saw a surge in abortions, but not a large enough increase to make up for the declines occurring in other states, suggesting that state-level restrictions are generally effective at reducing abortions.

New data, exclusively shared with @FiveThirtyEight, indicates that at least 10,000 women were unable to get an abortion in July and August because of Dobbs. https://t.co/lJ9xQZ1FU1 pic.twitter.com/n5US9KObQ9

— Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux (@ameliatd) October 30, 2022

There were approximately 22,000 fewer abortions in states with post-Roe restrictions, while there were 12,000 more in states without new restrictions, according to the SFP; it’s unclear what proportion of those abortions were performed on women who had traveled from other states.

The data was obtained from facilities that were responsible for approximately 82% of all abortions before Roe was overturned, meaning it doesn’t account for illegal abortions including the growing trend of illegal chemical abortions induced by pills smuggled from foreign countries.