Medication Abortions Push Number Of Procedures Performed In Us Up Since Roe’s Repeal, Study Shows

An abortion supplier shipped almost 120,000 packs of abortion pills to US residents betwixt July 2023 and August 2024 – astir 100,000 of whom lived successful states that outlaw nan process aliases person laws connected nan books that prohibition nan mailing of abortion pills, according to a caller study published successful nan prestigious aesculapian diary Jama connected Monday.

To nan daze of experts, nan number of abortions performed successful nan US has risen successful nan 3 years since nan US ultimate court overturned Roe v Wade and paved nan measurement for much than a twelve states to prohibition virtually each abortions. Much of that emergence has been driven by nan usage of abortion pills, aliases medicine abortion, and providers’ expertise to proviso nan pills done telehealth.

US abortion providers performed 1.14m abortions successful 2024 – nan highest number connected grounds successful caller years, according to information from #WeCount, a Society of Family Planning project. By nan extremity of nan year, #WeCount found, a afloat 4th of each abortions were being facilitated done telehealth.

This study, which was led by a University of Texas astatine Austin professor and studied shipments from nan telemedicine abortion work Aid Access, much afloat fleshes retired nan image of US abortion access, arsenic it is nan first to analyse abortion pill proviso astatine nan region level. The poorer a region was, nan much apt its residents were to bid abortion pills, researchers discovered.

Counties wherever nan poorness rates hovered betwixt 10% and 20% had proviso rates that were 1.63 times higher than counties wherever nan poorness complaint was little than 5%. In counties wherever nan poorness complaint was supra 20%, nan proviso complaint was 1.93 times higher than successful richer counties.

Abortion pill proviso rates were besides much than 3 times higher successful states that prohibition abortion compared pinch those that do not. In states that specifically prohibition telemedicine abortion, nan proviso rates were much than doubly arsenic high. Counties that were located farther from abortion clinics were besides apt to spot higher rates of abortion provision.

Aid Access ships to each 50 US states done nan usage of “shield laws”, which person been adopted by a fistful of bluish states successful nan years since nan repeal of Roe. These laws purpose to defender abortion providers from out-of-state prosecutions; if an abortion supplier surviving successful a authorities pinch a shield rule ships pills crossed authorities lines, they are successful mentation protected from liability. But these laws person yet to beryllium tested successful court.

Late past year, Texas sued a New York expert complete allegations that she had mailed abortion pills to a Texas woman. After nan doctor, Margaret Carpenter, grounded to show up for a tribunal date, a judge ruled against her by default and ordered her salary a good of much than $100,000. Citing New York’s shield law, a New York authorities clerk has repeatedly refused to enforce nan fine. The Texas lawyer general, Republican Ken Paxton, sued nan clerk successful July.

Experts wide expect that nan dispute, which tests nan relationships betwixt states that prohibition abortion and those that protect it, will yet scope nan US ultimate court.