In 2024, one brick-and-mortar facility abortion in the state was reported to the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH). Immediately after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, the state prohibited abortion from conception except in cases where a continued pregnancy would threaten the life of the mother.
Many of the demographic characteristics and changes in yearly trends were suppressed in this report because of the state’s data suppression rules. However, some information that the state determined would not lead to the identification of the woman was included in the report. According to the report, the abortion was performed on an Oklahoma resident and under the state law’s medical emergency exception and. An ultrasound was utilized before, during, and after the one abortion reported in the state. The fetal remains of the dead unborn child were not examined to ensure that all remains were removed from the mother’s body. The probable post-fertilization age was determined but not listed.
Following statutory informed consent requirements (63 OK Stat §1-738.2) that require women seeking abortion to receive informed consent information in person or via the telephone, the woman received the information in person from the physician performing the abortion. The woman chose to have printed materials mailed to her that described the risks of abortion and available safety net programs. The report also noted that other statutorily required informed consent information was not provided within the 24-hour requirement because an “immediate abortion was necessary to avert the death of the female” or “to avert substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function arising from continued pregnancy.” Lastly, the woman chose to hear the unborn child’s heartbeat.
The data published by Oklahoma does not include the total number of abortions obtained by Oklahoma residents out of state or the number of self-managed abortions performed by women outside of the healthcare system. The report also does not contain the total number of mail-order abortion drugs obtained by Oklahoma residents prescribed by licensed abortionists in other states with shield laws. Below, Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) will describe data provided by the Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study that details the total number of Oklahoma women who traveled out of state to obtain an abortion in 2024. Guttmacher’s abortion estimates include the number of abortions obtained at brick-and-mortar facilities and those provided via telehealth and virtual providers in states where such abortions are still legal. CLI will also describe data from the Society of Family Planning’s #WeCount project that details the number of abortion drugs mailed to Oklahoma women.
Guttmacher Data
In 2024, Guttmacher estimated that 3,440 Oklahoma women traveled out of state to obtain abortions. For the number of abortions obtained by Oklahoma women in various states according to Guttmacher, see the following table:1
| States Traveled to by Oklahoma Women | # of Abortions Obtained by Oklahoma Women Who Traveled to Other States to Get Abortions, 2024 |
| Kansas | 3,170 |
| Colorado | 160 |
| New Mexico | 110 |
| Total | 3,440 |
#WeCount reported that abortion drugs were mailed to 3,070 Oklahoma women.2 While the state reported that only one abortion occurred at a brick-and-mortar facility within state lines, other sources of data provide a more complete picture of abortion totals in the state.
- 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 states with total abortion bans under shield laws. This information is updated as of July 1, 2025. Guttmacher’s travel and residence data can be found here (State_Abortion_Travel_2024.csv).
- #WeCount’s data can be found here by downloading the “Report data tables [.xlsx]” document. The #WeCount report specifies that the numbers included in their tables for abortions performed under shield laws only represent the number of women whom abortion drugs were sent to, not the number of drug-induced abortions that were a result of the mailed drugs. However, because #WeCount’s data is the only source of data that delineates the number of abortions by mode of provision (in-person, telehealth/mail-order, and/or abortion drugs obtained under shield laws), their data is the best available.
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