Connecticut’s 2022 abortion report was provided to the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) by the Connecticut Department of Public Health upon request in February 2024.
Statistics and Changes in Connecticut Abortions, 2021-2022
The report does not include information on Planned Parenthood’s Connecticut abortion market share.
There were 11,121 abortions reported in Connecticut in 2022, up 10% from 2021. Drug-induced abortions also increased significantly from 2021, rising by 18% from 6,552 in 2021 to 7,701 in 2022. Drug-induced abortions comprised 69% of the state total in 2022 (Fig. 1). CLI estimates that Connecticut’s 2022 abortion rate was 16.0 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, an increase of 9% from 2021 (Fig. 2).1 As of March 2024, 34 states have released 2022 abortion statistics, with 21 reporting that abortions have increased.
State Report Summary
Similar to 2021, 95% of Connecticut abortions were reported to have been performed on state residents. New York women accounted for 2% of the abortions, while Rhode Island women accounted for not quite 2%. One percent of Connecticut abortions were performed on Massachusetts women, while less than 1% (0.7%) of the abortions were performed on other nonresident women from unspecified states.
Nine percent of the abortions were obtained by girls under the age of 20, including 3% by girls under the age of 18. Twenty-eight percent of the abortions were on women in their early twenties, while 27% were on women in their later twenties. Thirty-two percent of the abortions were performed on women in their thirties. Four percent were performed on women aged 40 or above. Age was not reported for under 1% of the abortions.
The majority of abortions reported in Connecticut (91%) were performed in the first trimester at 12 weeks of gestation or earlier. Five percent were performed between 12 and 15 weeks. Two percent of abortions were performed at 16 to 18 weeks, and another 2% were performed at 19 weeks or beyond. Less than 1% occurred at unknown gestational ages.
Over two-thirds of Connecticut abortions were drug-induced (69%), a quarter were surgical, and 5% were aspiration abortions. For the 2022 report, the Connecticut Department of Health changed the way the state categorizes abortion procedures. In previous years, the Department broke down the number of surgical abortions by specific procedure, such as sharp curettage, etc. The report now groups most surgical procedures together but created a separate category for aspiration abortion, which is a type of surgical abortion. In 2023, the Connecticut Department of Public Health informed CLI that a difference in the way abortion procedures were categorized on the paper versus the electronic versions of the state’s abortion reporting form explained the significant increase in sharp curettage abortions from 2020 to 2021. This is a possible explanation for the recategorization of abortion methods in the 2022 report.
Eighty-eight percent of the abortions reported in Connecticut were performed in clinics, while 6% were done in a doctor’s office or other medical facility. The number of abortions performed at doctor’s offices or other medical facilities doubled from 2021. Four percent of the abortions were hospital outpatient procedures. One percent of the abortions were performed as hospital inpatient procedures.
Abortion Centers in Connecticut
As of February 2024, CLI counted 18 abortion facilities in Connecticut and 11 online companies that mail abortion pills within the state Fourteen of the 18 abortion facilities are operated by Planned Parenthood, and of those 14, 13 perform drug-induced abortions up to 12 weeks of gestation despite the fact that these drugs are only FDA approved up to 10 weeks of gestation. Four of the 18 Planned Parenthood locations offer surgical abortions up to 20 weeks of gestation, far past the point when babies can feel pain. All four independent abortion facilities in the state perform surgical abortions past when Planned Parenthood does, with one location performing surgical abortions up to 22 weeks and three performing them up to 24 weeks.
Legislative Changes
In July 2023, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed SB1108 into law, requiring all public colleges in the state with on-campus residences to develop a plan by January 1, 2024 to address students’ “need” for abortion, including addressing the availability of the equipment needed to provide abortions and “ensuring the continuity of care during holiday and vacation periods between semesters.”
State Ranking
In CLI’s 2016 paper ranking abortion reporting across the United States, Connecticut’s reporting was ranked at 41st best. As CLI has previously recommended, Connecticut could make its abortion reports more accessible to the public by publishing them online, as many states do. Connecticut could also report demographic information that is reported by many other states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including the race, education, pregnancy history, and marital status of those who obtain abortions. Connecticut could also collect and report data on abortion-related complications.
- Rates were calculated by CLI using the following formula: (total number of abortions performed in Connecticut ÷ number of resident women ages 15-44) x 1,000. Rates may differ slightly from previous CLI articles due to revised population estimates. Population estimates were obtained from CDC WONDER. Estimates for 2005-2009 are intercensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates for 2010-2019 are Vintage 2020 postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates for 2020-2022 are Vintage 2022 postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates were produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.
