In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, which once again allowed state legislatures and Congress to pass laws protecting life, several states have had laws go into effect protecting life at conception. As more and more states move to protect life in the womb in its earliest stages, it is important to see what kind of impact laws outlawing abortion will have on reducing abortions.
In the week leading up to this monumental court decision, the Guttmacher Institute, Planned Parenthood’s affiliate research organization, released their most recent abortion statistics from 2017 to 2020. Historically, numbers reported from Guttmacher have shown that the abortion rate has been in overall decline since the early 90s. Tragically, the new figures reported last week indicate that beginning in 2017, abortion in the United States is back on the rise. There are many factors and causes which can help explain this increase in abortions in the United States and what that means now that states have the ability to protect life in the womb.
One of the main impacts on the new abortion numbers that cannot totally be accounted for is the impact that COVID-19 played on abortion rates in 2020. The worldwide pandemic caused certain pro-life states to shut down abortion facilities altogether, and at the same time unknown health risks and economic turmoil may have led other women to choose abortion at a higher rate.
Additionally, access to chemical abortion became easier during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the summer of 2020, a federal judge ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had to suspend the policy that required the chemical abortion drug mifepristone be dispensed in a medical office, clinic, or hospital. This was done under the guise of protecting women seeking abortions from being exposed to COVID-19. As a result of this ruling, chemical abortion could be prescribed via telehealth and sent through the mail without women ever seeing a health care practitioner in person. This at-home mail ordering of abortion pills could have contributed to the increase in abortions in 2020.
Since the beginning of 2020, there has been a strong increase of pro-life laws enacted in states across the country, while at the same time states with liberal abortion laws have also been enshrining abortion further into state law. Interestingly enough, the rise in abortions factors almost equally across pro-life states as it does pro-abortion states. An initial dive into the state data shows that there is no “one size fits all” reason; while state laws are an important factor in impacting the abortion rate, it is not the only factor. Rather, each state presents its own unique challenges when it comes to protecting life.