Overall abortion rates remain steady in the US

In 2024, there were 1,038,100 abortions provided across all U.S. states without near-total abortion bans, an increase of less than 1% from 2023. However, Guttmacher researchers noted that the finding "masked substantial variability across individual states," with some seeing significant increases or decreases.

For example, Florida had around 12,100 fewer abortions in 2024 than in 2023, which researchers attributed to the state's six-week abortion ban that went into effect May 2024. Similarly, there were around 3,500 fewer abortions in South Carolina in 2024 than in 2023. The state also has a six-week abortion ban, which was upheld by the state Supreme Court in August 2023.

Meanwhile, the number of abortions provided in Wisconsin increased from around 1,300 to around 6,100 from 2023 to 2024, a nearly 400% increase. Other states that saw significant increases in the number of abortions provided in 2024 were Arizona, California, Kansas, Ohio, and Virginia.

"What happens in one state affects what happens in other states," said Isaac Maddow-Zimet, a data scientist at the Guttmacher Institute and the project lead for the Monthly Abortion Provision Study.

People who receive abortion care through telehealth "can still get safe, legal care from a licensed practitioner without having to make child-care arrangements or skip work or school," said Julie Kay, the executive director of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. "They don't have to travel in isolation; they don't have to deal with clinic harassment."

Declining resources to support travel for abortion care may also be a factor in the decline in out-of-state abortions. "Abortion funds saw big increases in donations immediately post-Dobbs, and then really saw that drop off, and they've only had to deal with an increasing amount of need," Maddow-Zimet said.

States with bans target out-of-state abortion care

Currently, 12 states have abortion bans at all stages of pregnancy with limited exceptions. Another four states have banned abortion after six weeks. As patients continue to travel out-of-state for abortion care, several states with bans have made efforts to outlaw such travel.

For example, Idaho and Tennessee have both made it a crime to help a minor leave the state for an abortion without first getting permission from their parents.

In 2022, Fund Texas Choice, a nonprofit abortion travel fund, filed a lawsuit against Paxton and the prosecutors. In 2023, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled that the state could not prosecute patients who travel for abortion care. The case is still ongoing.

In a similar case, a federal judge in Alabama recently ruled that the state's attorney general cannot threaten groups with prosecution for helping patients travel out of state for abortion care. According to U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, the right to interstate travel is "one of our most fundamental constitutional rights."

Overall, Maddow-Zimet said there were significant changes to state abortion laws in 2024, both to expand and restrict access to care.

"There's really a bifurcated policy landscape where we have a lot of efforts on one side to increase access to care," he said, and, on the other, "an enormous amount of effort to make care more and more difficult to access. We absolutely see those trends continuing."

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