The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare released their annual vital statistics report, showing that abortions declined in 2022 from the previous year.
Statistics and Changes in Idaho Abortions, 2021-2022
The report does not include information on Planned Parenthood’s Idaho abortion market share.
Abortion Totals and Trends
Idaho reported that 1,027 abortions were performed in the state in 2022, a decrease of 34% from 2021. Chemical abortions decreased by 27% to 654 abortions in 2022, 64% of the state total (Fig. 1). The Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) estimates that Idaho’s abortion rate decreased 35% to 2.7 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44 (Fig. 2).1 As of February 2024, 33 states had released 2022 abortion statistics, with 13 states showing that abortions had decreased.
Idaho used to separately report the numbers of abortions performed on state residents, whether they occurred in Idaho or in other states, but in 2022, the state only reported abortions that were performed in Idaho on either state residents or nonresidents. Resident abortions that occurred in Idaho decreased by 33% from 2021 to 967. The number of abortions that were performed on nonresidents in Idaho decreased from 99 in 2021 to 49 in 2022. The residence status of 11 women who obtained abortions in Idaho in 2022 was unknown.
State Reporting Summary
Twelve percent of Idaho abortions were performed on girls under the age of 20, including 3% on girls under the age of 18 and 9% on girls ages 18 to 19. Just over a third (34%) were on women ages 20 to 24, and 27% on women ages 25 to 29. Twenty-four percent were obtained by women in their thirties, and 3% by women ages 40 and older.
Eighty-seven percent of the abortions reported in Idaho were obtained by white women. Three percent each were performed on black women and Asian or Pacific Islander women. Two percent of the abortions were performed on American Indian women and 4% on women of other races. Race was not reported for 3% of the abortions. CLI estimates that the black abortion rate was 6.6 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, more than double the white abortion rate of 2.5. Like previous years, Idaho reported that a majority of abortions (72%) were on non-Hispanic women and 27% on Hispanic women. The Hispanic abortion rate of 12.2 is 13.5 times higher than the non-Hispanic abortion rate of 0.9.
A large majority of Idaho abortions, 82%, were performed on unmarried women. Seventeen percent were on married women and less than 1% were on women of unknown marital status. Seventy-one percent of the abortions were obtained by women who reported no previous abortions, 20% by women with one prior abortion, and 9% by women with two or more prior abortions. Just under half of the abortions, 49%, were performed on women with no prior live births, while 22% were on women with one birth and 28% on women with two or more births.
Seventy-one percent of the abortions were performed earlier than nine weeks of gestation, with 39% performed at six weeks of gestation or earlier and 32% reported between seven and eight weeks. Thirteen percent of the abortions occurred between nine and 10 weeks, and 6% were reported between 11 and 12 weeks. Another 6% of the abortions were performed early in the second trimester, between 13 and 15 weeks of gestation. Half a percent were performed between 16 and 20 weeks, and 0.2% were reported between 21 and 24 weeks of gestation. Zero abortions were reported after 25 weeks of gestation, while gestational age was not reported for 3% of the abortions. Chemical abortions made up 64% of all Idaho abortions in 2022. Thirty-two percent were conducted using suction curettage, and 4% were performed via dilation and evacuation.
As required by law, women were provided with educational materials in advance of all but two of the 1,027 abortions. The report explains that educational materials might not be provided during medical emergencies. Thirty abortions were performed on minors under the age of 18. In all 30 cases, a parent or guardian provided consent for the abortion.
Starting in 2019, Idaho law has required that abortion complications be reported on a separate Abortion Complications Report.2 However, the data for 2022 has not been released yet, which is atypical as the state’s annual complications and abortion report are often released simultaneously.
Eighty-two percent of the abortions occurred in Ada County, while 17% were performed in Twin Falls County. Five abortions occurred in Valley County.
Legislative Changes
In August 2022, following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June of that year, Idaho’s life at conception law went into effect. This law has been implicated in a federal lawsuit (U.S. v. Idaho, 2022) brought by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is claiming that Idaho’s life at conception law violates the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). HHS claims that the exceptions language in Idaho law is so vague that women would be prevented from obtaining abortions in emergency situations; however, research shows that no state laws protecting life at any gestational age prohibit doctors from providing emergency medical care to pregnant women. Idaho’s law remains in effect as litigation continues.
Since the law went into effect in August 2022, abortions occurring in Idaho rapidly decreased, down to zero in the last months of 2022.
| # of Abortions per Month | |
| January | 127 |
| February | 112 |
| March | 150 |
| April | 141 |
| May | 145 |
| June | 143 |
| July | 133 |
| August | 76 |
| September | 0 |
| October | 0 |
| November | 0 |
| December | 0 |
State Ranking
In CLI’s 2016 report on abortion reporting across the country, Idaho was ranked at 17th best and tied with Wisconsin. Idaho could improve its reporting by naming the states of residence of nonresident women who travel to Idaho for abortions, as CLI has previously recommended. Idaho could also report its complications data when it releases its annual summaries. Lastly, Idaho could list the reasons why women are seeking abortions, as some other states do.
- National rates were calculated by the Guttmacher Institute. Idaho rates were calculated by CLI using the following formula: (total number of abortions performed in Idaho ÷ 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 2020-2022 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.
- Statistics on abortion complications reported here represent a minimal number of deaths and complications.
