Hawaii abortion reporting is delayed, but 2021 abortion statistics are available in the latest national report from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Statistics and Changes in Hawaii Abortions, 2020-2021
The report does not include information on Hawaii’s Planned Parenthood abortion market share.
Abortion Totals and Trends
The most recent year for which Hawaii has published its full vital statistics report with the state’s abortion data is 2009. Since then, Hawaii has made annual totals available but has not published any state reports with detailed demographic information. However, Hawaii has shared this data with the CDC, and Hawaii’s abortion statistics published in the most recent CDC report, Abortion Surveillance-United States, 2021, have been used in this summary.
State Report Summary
According to the CDC report, there were 2,214 abortions reported in Hawaii in 2021, an increase of 22% from 2020 when there were 1,809 reported abortions. Chemical abortions in Hawaii also increased in 2021, rising 40% from 2020 when 884 chemical abortions were reported (Fig. 1). The CDC reported that Hawaii’s 2021 abortion rate was 8.4 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, an increase of 23% from 2020 when Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) estimates that Hawaii’s abortion rate was 6.8 (Fig. 2).1
Ninety-seven percent of the abortions reported in Hawaii were performed on resident women, while 3% were performed on nonresident women. Nine percent of the abortions were on girls ages 15 to 19. Twenty-eight percent were performed on women ages 20 to 24, and 27%on women ages 25 to 29. Thirty-two percent of the abortions were on women in their thirties. The CDC suppresses small numbers to protect confidentiality, and the number of abortions on girls ages 14 and under and women ages 40 and over were suppressed.
Over half the abortions, 53%, were performed on women with no previous live births. Nineteen percent were on women with one prior live birth, and 28% were performed on women with two or more prior live births. Fifty-nine percent of the abortions were on women who had never had an abortion before. Twenty-four percent were on women with one prior abortion, and 16% on women with more than one. Previous live births and abortions, if any, were not reported for three and one abortion(s), respectively.
Thirty-four percent of the abortions reported in Hawaii occurred at six weeks of gestation or earlier. Forty-six percent were performed between seven and nine weeks, and 12% were performed between 10 and 13 weeks of gestation. Three percent occurred from 14 to 15 weeks, and 2% each were reported between 16 and 17 weeks and 18 and 20 weeks of gestation. One percent (21 abortions) were performed at 21 weeks of gestation or later.
In contrast to 2020, in 2021 over half of Hawaii abortions were chemical, while under half (43%) were surgical. There were zero intrauterine instillation abortions and zero hysterectomy/hysterotomy abortions, and the type of procedure was suppressed or not reported for 15 abortions.
Legislative Changes
As CLI has previously summarized, the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade did not lead to any changes in the availability of abortion under Hawaii law: abortion remains legal before viability for any reason and broadly available after viability, as the health exception is not defined.
In March 2023, the Governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, signed SB1 into law. This bill removes the parental consent requirement for abortion in the state and institutes a shield law that prohibits pro-life states from prosecuting Hawaii doctors for breaking their state’s pro-life laws. Lastly, the bill allows physician assistants to perform first trimester chemical and surgical abortions and also removes the requirement that abortions be performed in a clinic or hospital.
State Ranking
In 2016, CLI surveyed abortion reporting across the country and ranked each state on the quality of its reporting. Hawaii fell near the bottom at 44th. To improve its reporting, Hawaii could publish all its abortion data on a faster schedule and publish its own annual report.
- National rates were calculated by the Guttmacher Institute. Hawaii rates were calculated by CLI using the following formula: (total number of abortions performed in Hawaii ÷ number of resident women ages 15-44 [based on most recent population estimates]) x 1,000. Rates may differ slightly from previous CLI articles due to revised population estimates. Population estimates were obtained from the CDC WONDER database. 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 2020-2021 are Vintage 2021 postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates were produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.
