Pennsylvania abortions increasing after Roe v. Wade overturned
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Clinics provided roughly 37,900 abortions in Pennsylvania last year, per new data estimates from the Guttmacher Institute.
The big picture: That's up more than 17% from 2020, two years before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Why it matters: This week marks the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision, which has left a patchwork of abortion access laws posing heightened logistical and financial challenges for patients seeking care.
- Since then, roughly half the states have imposed restrictions of some kind on the procedure.
Zoom in: Some 2,550 out-of-state patients traveled to Pennsylvania for abortions last year.
- An estimated 400 more patients traveled to the Keystone State to obtain an abortion in 2023 compared to 2020, per the data from the institute, which supports abortion rights.
- But the percentage of abortions given to out-of-state patients has remained steady at 7% during that time.
By the numbers: People from Ohio accounted for 36% of all out-of-state abortion patients who traveled to Pennsylvania last year (or 920) — the most out of any state, per the data.
- That was followed by patients from West Virginia (600), Delaware (330) and New Jersey (230).
The other side: More Pennsylvania patients traveled to New Jersey for the procedure than any other state (2,910).
State of play: Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy.
- Several restrictions exist, however, such as mandated counseling and a 24-hour waiting period.
Zoom out: Across the country, about 171,300 patients traveled out-of-state for abortions in 2023.
- As of this month, residents in 712 (22.7%) counties traveled more than 200 miles to access the procedure, per the Myers Abortion Facility Database, which is maintained at Middlebury College.
- That's a more than threefold jump over June 2021, when residents in 216 (6.9%) counties traveled the same distance.
Between the lines: People driving the furthest to get an abortion are more likely to come from congressional districts with lower incomes and more diverse populations, according to data analysis by the left-leaning Center for American Progress.