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Abortions in the United States hit their greatest levels in 2023 despite the Supreme Court\u2019s 2022 Dobbs decision, overturning Roe v. Wade and giving the issue of abortion back to the states. <\/p>\n
According to the Monthly Abortion Provision Study<\/a>, an estimated 1,026,690 occurred in 2023, or about 15.7 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age.<\/p>\n The number is also a 10% increase from 2020.<\/p>\n U.S. abortions were greatest in 1990, with 1.6 million. Over the next thirty years, the rate of abortion steadily declined until 2020. In 2017, there were 885,000 abortions, but that number increased to 930,160 in 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile access has decreased dramatically in states with bans, almost all other states have experienced substantial increases in the number of abortions provided,\u201d pro-abortion organization Guttmacher Institute<\/a> wrote. \u201cAs a result, the United States continues to face a fractured abortion landscape, with access varying widely based on where people live and what resources they have.\u201d<\/p>\n States that bordered those with abortion bans saw surges in abortions, increase 37% between 2020 and 2023. Illinois had a 72% increase in abortions, while New Mexico\u2019s abortion increased 257%, Virginia by 76%, and North Carolina by 41%.<\/p>\n Much of the increase in abortions can be attributed to access to abortion-inducing drugs. The Guttmacher Institute\u2019s report said that the \u201cuse of telehealth to provide medication abortion via mail increased considerably\u201d after the FDA \u201clifted in-person dispensing requirements of mifepristone.\u201d<\/p>\n The distribution of mifepristone may also enable pregnancy terminations by \u201callowing sex traffickers and sexual abusers to force their victims into getting abortions,\u201d according to a lawsuit<\/a> against the drug.<\/p>\n American Faith reported<\/a> that pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens are offering mifepristone to customers in six Democratic states.<\/p>\n CVS will sell the drug in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, while Walgreens will sell the drug in New York, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n