There Were a Quarter Million Abortions from Red States Last Year

In the News
Written By Editor

When asked about the success of their regulations on abortion, Pro-Life establishment groups often point to state government reports that show a decline in clinic-based abortions.

They often fail to note that clinic-based abortions are far from the only method by which abortions are happening.

Beyond visiting abortion clinics for surgical abortions or abortion pills, mothers and fathers in states where clinics are no longer providing abortions are increasingly using telehealth to access abortion pills supplied by clinicians in shield law states. Many women are also traveling to murder their preborn babies in other states where clinics are still operating. 

When analyzing the available data on these methods, we concluded that there were at least 246,000 abortions in 2024 conducted by residents of states that claim to have banned abortion. This is a drastic increase from 181,000 abortions for these same states in 2019, which was before any of these so-called bans went into effect.

Our analysis in the Babies Unprotected report published late last year projected that there would be at least 218,000 abortions recorded in 2024 for residents of states with so-called abortion bans in effect. While clinic-based abortions in these states have indeed decreased, other forms of abortion, such as telehealth abortions and out-of-state travel for abortions, have substantially increased.

Recent data from sources like the Guttmacher Institute and the Society of Family Planning show that our forecasts were exceeded. None of these data even consider self-managed abortions happening outside of the formal medical system, meaning that the number of abortions in these states is likely even higher.

These trends should alarm anyone who is concerned about the lives of preborn babies. Rather than acknowledging how their regulations have failed to end abortion, many Pro-Life leaders are sadly misleading their supporters by pointing to state government reports that only tell part of the story on current abortion levels.

Texas Alliance for Life Communications Director Amy O’Donnell claimed at the start of this year that a state health report showing very few clinic-based abortions proved that their regulations “are working as intended, safeguarding the lives of both women and unborn children.”

South Carolina Citizens for Life President Lisa Van Riper reacted to a state health report showing a decline in clinic-based abortions by saying that their “heartbeat act is foundational to creating a culture of life.” In the same way, South Carolina Citizens for Life Executive Director Holly Gatling flatly denied the validity of data showing rapidly increasing telehealth abortions and out-of-state abortions, insisting that state health reports are the “gold standard” for their group.

Pro-Life establishment groups are ignoring the reality of rising abortion numbers and are refusing to admit that the laws they support are failing to decrease abortion.

Merely restricting some methods of abortion, banning abortion during certain periods of pregnancy, or forbidding third parties like clinicians from performing abortions has proven to be unsuccessful. States with such Pro-Life regulations in effect continue to see overall abortion numbers rise.

The answer to this problem is equal protection of the laws for preborn babies. Instead of regulating the circumstances of abortion, our laws must extend the statutes that already protect born people from murder to protect preborn people as well, thereby abolishing abortion.

These are the only legal conditions under which abortion will truly be abolished in our nation, even in states where Pro-Life establishment groups are falsely claiming victories.

Editor
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