Tessa Cox

While many abortion centers only perform abortions in early pregnancy, there are several abortion centers that advertise abortions in the third trimester for any reason. Although media coverage tends to focus on third trimester abortions performed because the unborn baby has a serious health condition or a threat exists to the mother’s life, research shows that many third trimester abortions are performed for the same reasons unrelated to serious maternal or fetal health concerns as earlier abortions

Articles highlighting poor quality medical care in pro-life states have raised concerns that state laws are preventing pregnant women from obtaining necessary emergency care. However, all pro-life state laws allow doctors to treat women with pregnancy emergencies, no law requires “imminence” before a doctor can intervene, and every pro-life state permits doctors to treat women suffering from miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies. Doctors who fail to provide patients with necessary emergency treatment therefore may be committing malpractice.

Post-Dobbs, pro-life states’ efforts to protect life have been met with pushback, including widespread claims that the laws are contributing to hospital closures and driving doctors away. A close look at the data shows that these claims are unjustified. Pro-life states continue to train medical students, recruit future doctors, and position themselves for further growth.

This paper is an analysis of 2021 and 2022 abortion data published by state health departments, along with a discussion of recent estimates for 2023. Of the 34 states that reported abortion data for both 2021 and 2022 as of April 2024, there was a 4% overall decrease in the number of abortions.

Consistent with national trends for ED visits, both the number and acuity of ED visits following pregnancy outcomes are increasing. ED visit acuity following chemical abortion is persistently and significantly higher than for surgical abortion or live birth.

While both induced abortion and natural pregnancy loss have been associated with subsequent mental health problems, population-based studies directly comparing these two pregnancy outcomes are rare. This study compared mental health morbidity after an induced abortion to natural loss. Only the abortion cohort experienced significant increases in mental health services use following the first pregnancy outcome.

Indiana changed to quarterly reporting for 2023 and, as a result, this data represents the summation of the data in the quarterly reports. These reports showed that abortions in Indiana decreased significantly from 2022, likely due to the state’s life at conception law going back into effect in late August 2023.

The FDA’s abortion drugs complications data is woefully incomplete. From 2020-2022, the six states that report complications by type of procedure reported 1,004 total complications from drug-induced abortions. Meanwhile, the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System data reflects just 17 unduplicated abortion-related adverse events over this same period.

New York’s 2021 abortion statistics were published online by the New York Department of Health in December 2022, showing that abortions performed on New York residents slightly increased from 2020.

New York City’s 2021 abortion statistics showed a very slight increase in the number of abortions occurring from 2020 to 2021, with 37,813 abortions reported in the city in 2021, a 0.77% increase from 2020.