Abortions Keep Increasing in the United States, Data Show
TIME, April 15, 2025
The number of abortions provided in most of the U.S. increased slightly in 2024 from the year before, according to new data released on April 15. The research was conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, which studies and supports sexual and reproductive health and rights. The organization uses both a statistical model and survey responses from providers to estimate the number of abortions provided by clinicians in states without near-total bans for its Monthly Abortion Provision Study. The data released on April 15 show that nearly 1,038,100 abortions were provided in 2024 across all states without near-total bans – a less than 1% increase from 2023 to 2024. While that number is relatively steady compared to the year before, researchers noted that the finding “masked substantial variability across individual states,” with some states experiencing significant decreases and others seeing notable increases. For instance, there were roughly 12,100 fewer abortions provided in Florida in 2024 than in 2023, which researchers attributed to the state implementing a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, a policy that went into effect in May 2024. At the same time, researchers found that the number of abortions provided in Wisconsin increased from about 1,300 in 2023 to about 6,100 in 2024 – an increase of 388%.The data also reveal that about 155,100 people traveled across state lines for an abortion in 2024, accounting for about 15% of all abortions provided in states without near-total bans. That’s a slight decrease from 2023, when roughly 169,700 people crossed state lines, representing about 16% of abortions in states without near-total bans.
Missouri Lawmakers Advance Proposed Repeal of Abortion-Rights Measure Approved by Voters
The Associated Press, April 15, 2025
Missouri’s Republican-led House advanced a proposed constitutional amendment Tuesday asking voters to repeal an abortion-rights measure they narrowly approved last year and instead ban most abortions with exceptions for rape and incest. Democrats and abortion-rights activists denounced the public policy swing as an affront to the will of voters. But Republicans contend they are simply giving voters a second chance – and are confident they will change their minds. Since then, Missouri is the only state where voters have overturned a law barring most abortions at all stages of pregnancy. A constitutional amendment, passed by about 52% in November, guarantees a right to abortion until fetal viability – generally considered sometime past 21 weeks of pregnancy – and allows later abortions to protect the life or health of pregnant women. A limited number of surgical abortions have since occurred in Missouri, but medication abortions remain on hold while Planned Parenthood wrangles with the state over abortion regulations. In addition to repealing the abortion-rights amendment, the new measure would allow abortions only for a medical emergency or fetal anomaly, or in cases of rape or incest up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. It also would prohibit gender transition surgeries, hormone treatments and puberty blockers for minors, which already are barred under state law. The proposal won initial House approval by 94-50 vote, with House Speaker Jon Patterson among just two Republicans siding with Democrats in opposition. Another House vote is needed to send the measure to the Senate, where approval would place it on a future Missouri ballot.
Internet and Abortion ‘Deserts’ Are Converging, Denying Rural Women Access to Care
Jezebel, April 16, 2025
Nearly three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, new data continues to come to light about how the ruling has fundamentally transformed abortion access across the country. In December, we learned that self-managed abortion via pills mailed across state lines via telehealth accounts for about a tenth of all abortions in the U.S. But while telehealth access to abortion pills has been a lifeline for individuals living in abortion-banned states, a range of barriers can stand in the way. One such barrier? Poor internet access. On Monday, the National Women’s Law Center published a report on the intersection of care “deserts,” where people are both far from reproductive health clinics and lack reliable internet access in their homes. According to the organization‘s data, 18.4 million women live in an abortion care desert, while more than 38 million women live in a pregnancy care desert, and over 2.6 million women live in a broadband internet desert. Of these “deserts,” over 740,000 women of reproductive age live in counties considered both broadband internet deserts and abortion care deserts, and nearly 677,000 live in counties considered both broadband internet deserts and pregnancy care deserts. The majority of these counties are spread across the Midwest, but there are rural, low-income counties in states like California, Michigan, and New York as well.
Wyoming Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Abortion Rights
The Associated Press, April 16, 2025
Wyoming abortion bans put on hold and struck down by a lower court judge, including the first explicit U.S. ban on abortion pills, will be argued Wednesday before the state’s Supreme Court. Abortion has remained legal in this conservative state since Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens in Jackson blocked a series of bans passed in the state since 2022. One law would ban abortion except to protect to a pregnant woman’s life or in cases involving rape and incest. The other would make Wyoming the only state to explicitly ban abortion pills, though other states have instituted de facto bans on abortion medication by broadly prohibiting abortion. Wyoming’s laws prompted lawsuits filed by four women, including two obstetricians, and two nonprofits including Wellspring Health Access, the state’s only abortion clinic. They argued in court filings that the laws stand to harm the women’s health, well-being and livelihoods and violate a state constitutional amendment. Attorneys for the state dispute those claims and argue that abortion can’t violate the constitution because it is not health care.
Idaho Judge Relaxes Abortion Ban in Cases Where Woman’s Life at Risk
Reuters, April 14, 2025
Idaho’s abortion ban does not prevent doctors from performing abortions when a pregnant woman’s life is in danger, even if her death is “neither imminent nor assured,” a judge has ruled, a victory for four patients and two doctors who sued the state to expand the ban’s narrow exception for medical emergencies. District Judge Jason Scott in Ada County state court on April 11 said that an abortion is allowed if, in the doctor’s “good faith medical judgment,” the patient faces “a non-negligible risk of dying sooner” without one. Scott said the exception did not extend to cases where the danger arises from a risk of self-harm due to mental health issues. He ruled that the method of abortion must be one that, without further endangering the woman, “best facilitates the unborn child’s survival outside the uterus, if feasible.” The judge also rejected the women’s argument that abortion should be allowed in case of a lethal condition which would mean the fetus would not survive long after being born. All four patients in the lawsuit were denied abortions in Idaho despite carrying fetuses which had lethal conditions and were forced to travel out of the state to have abortions, according to their 2023 lawsuit. Scott did not explain his reasoning in the brief order, which is his final judgment in the case. The state can appeal it.
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Note: The information contained in this publication reflects media coverage of women’s health issues and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
