What Americans are searching after Roe v. Wade reversal
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Google search data shows Americans — particularly those in states most impacted by the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade —are scrambling to figure out where they can still get abortions and what the law means for future access.
Why it matters: Americans are trying to wrap their heads around what this means for the future of women's health.
On searches related to abortion, the top queries included, "is abortion illegal," "abortion ban states" and "abortion pill."
- Those most actively searching were in political battlegrounds like Wisconsin, Michigan and New Hampshire — where there are no existing laws that would immediately ban or codify abortion rights, as well red states Missouri, Kentucky and Utah, where a trigger law has banned the procedure.
- Top searches about the Supreme Court centered on which justices voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
- This analysis is based on Google Trends data from Friday and Saturday.
Between the lines: Searches for "abortion clinic near me" over-indexed in the Southeast, where a number of states had trigger laws on the books.
- The top five states include Mississippi and Louisiana, where there were trigger laws in place, and Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina where there are not.
- Searches for 'abortion pill' were highest in red states — Wyoming and Montana in the Mountain West were the top two, followed by Southeast states Louisiana, Georgia, Missouri and Arkansas.
The other side: Searches for "Planned Parenthood near me" were highest among blue states: Delaware, California, Oregon, Washington and New Jersey were the top-searching states in the aftermath of the ruling.
- Overall search interest in abortion peaked at 10:56am ET on Friday, about 45 minutes after the decision was released.
