The Illinois Department of Public Health published its 2023 abortion statistics online in February 2025. In what follows, Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) summarizes the information in the abortion report published by the state. The data published by the state does not include the total number of abortions obtained by Illinois residents out of state or the number of self-managed abortions on women outside of the healthcare system. It is also unlikely that the report contains the number of mail-order abortion drugs obtained by Illinois residents prescribed by licensed abortion providers in other states. In a separate section, CLI will describe data provided by the Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study that details the number of women who traveled to Illinois to obtain abortions and their states of residence in 2023. Guttmacher’s abortion estimates include the number of abortions obtained at brick-and-mortar facilities and those provided via telehealth and virtual providers in the United States.
Illinois’ statute code defines abortion as:
… the use of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance or device to terminate the pregnancy of an individual known to be pregnant with the intention other than to increase the probability of a live birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live birth, or to remove a dead fetus (§775 ILCD 55/1-10).
Statistics and Changes in Illinois Abortions, 2022-2023
The report does not include information on Planned Parenthood’s Illinois market share.
Abortion Totals and Trends
Abortions in Illinois increased in 2023 by 28% from 2022, with a total of 72,143 abortions in 2023 compared to 56,457 in 2022. Illinois’ 2023 abortion total was the highest ever reported by the state since it started reporting abortion totals in 1973. Drug-induced abortions also jumped by 32% and constituted 58% of the 2023 total (Fig. 1). CLI estimates that Illinois’ 2023 abortion rate was 29.1 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 (Fig. 2).1 As of April 2025, 30 states have released 2023 abortion statistics, with 17 reporting increases from 2022.
State Report Summary
Sixty-two percent of Illinois abortions were performed on state residents in 2023, while 36% were performed on women from other states. The number of abortions obtained by out-of-state women increased by 55% from 2022. This dramatic increase was most likely the result of Illinois being a midwestern state with no effective abortion limits due to the broad exceptions built into its abortion law, surrounded by states that enacted, at one point or another, pro-life laws that protected babies from conception after the Dobbs decision in June 2022. In addition to the number of nonresident abortions increasing dramatically from 2022 to 2023, the number of resident abortions increased by 15%. Residence was not reported for 2% of the abortions. As previously noted by CLI, Illinois no longer reports the states from which non-Illinois residents travel to obtain abortions due to a June 2023 change in the state’s abortion reporting announced by the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Three percent of the abortions were performed on minors. Sixty-four percent were obtained by women ages 18 to 29 and 30% by women in their thirties. Three percent were performed on women in their forties or older. Age was not reported for 0.3% of the abortions. Multiple methods can be reported for each abortion, so the number of abortions reported for each type of procedure adds up to slightly more than the total number reported in Illinois. Fifty-eight percent of the abortions occurring in Illinois in 2023 were drug-induced. Surgical procedures were used for 42% of the abortions. However, the report did not document the specific types of surgical procedures that were used. An additional 1% of the abortions were performed using an unknown method.
Abortion by Gestational Age
| Total # of Abortions, 2023 | % of Abortions, 2023 | Total # of Abortions, 2022 | % of Abortions, 2022 | % Change in # of Abortions from 22-23 | |
| <8 weeks | 38,462 | 53% | 27,931 | 50% | +38% |
| 8-11 | 22,113 | 31% | 18,860 | 33% | +17% |
| 12-15 | 5,858 | 8% | 5,070 | 9% | +16% |
| 16+ | 4,198 | 6% | 3,119 | 6% | +35% |
| Unk gest. Age | 1,512 | 2% | 1,477 | 3% | +2% |
| Total # of ab. | 72,143 | – | 56,457 | – | +28% |
2023 Guttmacher Data3
In 2023, Guttmacher estimated that 90,510 abortions occurred in the state, while the state reported a total that was 25% lower than Guttmacher’s. One possible explanation for the large discrepancy in the total number of abortions occurring in the state could be that Guttmacher’s estimate includes the number of telehealth abortions performed in the state, while the state’s total most likely does not. However, the Illinois Department of Public Health has not replied to CLI’s email inquiring whether the state reports telehealth abortions performed in the state.
Of those 90,510 abortions, an estimated 37,040 were obtained by out-of-state women. The state reported a nonresident total of 26,168, a total 42% lower than Guttmacher’s estimate. To see the number of abortions obtained in Illinois by women from various states according to Guttmacher’s estimates, see the following table:
| States of Residence for Women Who Traveled to Illinois | # of Abortions Obtained by non-Resident Women in Illinois, 2023 |
| Missouri | 8,750 |
| Tennessee | 7,130 |
| Indiana | 5,440 |
| Wisconsin | 5,210 |
| Mississippi | 2,060 |
| Arkansas | 2,040 |
| Kentucky | 1,850 |
| Texas | 1,580 |
| Louisiana | 870 |
| Alabama | 490 |
| Georgia | 420 |
| Iowa | 370 |
| Ohio | 230 |
| Michigan | 220 |
| Florida | 210 |
| Oklahoma | 170 |
| Total | 37,040 |
Breakdown of Abortion Providers in Illinois4
| # of brick-and-mortar locations | 38 |
| # of independent centers | 15 |
| # of Planned Parenthood centers | 18 |
| # of hospitals/doctors’ offices that perform abortions | 5 |
| # of abortion drug providers | 38 |
| # of abortion drug-only providers | 15 |
| # of surgical and abortion drug providers | 23 |
| # of online mail-order abortion drug companies licensed in the state | 14 |
| # of brick-and-mortar locations that also mail abortion drugs | 20 |
| Latest gestational age that a center performs surgical abortion | Through 27 weeks |
State Ranking
In 2024, CLI published a paper reevaluating states’ abortion reporting across the country, with Illinois ranked at 41st place. To improve its reporting, Illinois could incorporate all the information it reported in its annual abortion reports published before 2019 and provide data on complications, particularly from emergency rooms and other urgent care settings.
- National rates were calculated by Guttmacher Institute. Illinois rates were calculated by CLI using the following formula: (total number of abortions performed in Illinois Ă· 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 using 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 2020-2023 are Vintage 2023 postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Estimates were produced by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.
- The legal status of the life-at-conception laws in the states that directly border Illinois (Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, and Wisconsin) have changed off and on following the Dobbs decision in June 2022. But, by and large, these states had life-at-conception laws in effect post-Dobbs. As of February 2025, two of the four states listed above have life-at-conception laws in effect while Wisconsin limits abortion after 22 weeks of gestation and Missouri’s abortion law is up in the air as the state reconciles its law with the ballot amendment that passed in November 2024.
- The Guttmacher Institute notes that their monthly abortion totals by states are estimates and that each state’s estimate is within a range of uncertainty. Guttmacher also notes that their estimates do not reflect self-managed abortions or those obtained by women in pro-life states under shield laws.
- Center totals do not include hospitals or physician offices not listed in databases that compile abortion provider locations in different states, but do include Planned Parenthood locations, independent abortion centers, and hospitals/doctor’s offices included in databases like Abortion Finder and Ineedana. This information is updated as of April 24, 2025.
- Illinois’ 2014 abortion report was the first to include the number of drug-induced abortions reported in the state. Previous reports did not report drug-induced abortions as a separate category. The 2018 drug-induced abortion total has been updated to include those performed on women of unknown residency; previous reports suppressed this number.
