Abortions reached their highest level since 2014, despite the procedure being banned in more than a dozen states

The number of abortions has reached the highest level in a decade, despite bans on the procedure in more than a dozen states.

That’s according to a report released Tuesday by a reproductive health care company Guttmacher Institute showed that there would be 1 million abortions in the US in 2023, the equivalent of 16 per 1,000 women.

That was 10 percent more than the 14.4 per 1,000 in 2020 and the highest since 2014, when the figure was 14.6 per 1,000.

The increase is largely driven by medical abortions, which can be ordered online from pharmacies and will soon be ordered in person, although they are illegal in more than a dozen states that have banned abortion.

The findings come after Vice President Kamala Harris made history as the first vice president or president to visit an abortion clinic last week — which was applauded by pro-abortion activists but denounced by critics as a sign that she “spent her entire career in the abortion clinic has spent’. bag of great abortion.’

Vice President Kamala Harris last week became the first vice president or president to visit an abortion clinic. She is pictured here at a Planned Parenthood in Minnesota

The percentage of medical abortions increased to almost two-thirds, an increase of 10 percent compared to 2020. In 2000, no abortions were performed using this method.

And this number is expected to grow even further in the coming years after the abortion pill mifepristone hits the shelves for the first time this month at CVS and Walgreens.

Rachel Jones, Guttmacher’s lead researcher, said the overturning of Roe v Wade likely led to the rise of medication abortions.

“As abortion restrictions continue to expand post-Dobbs, medication abortion may be the most viable option — or the only option — for some people, even if they would have preferred in-person procedural care,” she said.

The Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the federal right to abortion, Roe v Wade, which had existed for nearly five decades, leaving it up to individual states.

Since, Fourteen states completely ban abortion, while many others restrict access after a certain point in pregnancy, as early as six weeks.

Still, the new report shows that almost every state saw an increase in the number of abortions between 2020 and 2023, including in-office and medication abortions.

For example, procedures in New Mexico, where abortion is fully legal, increased more than 250 percent in just three years, and states without outright bans saw a 25 percent increase, which could be due to people asking for the procedure received during pregnancy. , before the restrictions forbid it.

Nearly two-thirds of abortions in 2023 were due to medications such as mifepristone

New Mexico saw the largest increase in abortions, which could be due to the fact that it borders Arizona and Texas, where restrictions are in place

The report’s authors wrote that the “drastic loss of access in states with bans has been offset by monumental efforts by clinics, abortion funds and logistics support organizations to help people in states access care through financial and practical support.”

The Guttmacher Institute releases a similar report every three years, based on data collected from U.S. abortion providers.

The team found that just over 1 million abortions were performed in 2014. This is the first time since 2012 that the number has exceeded 1 million. The number is up from 0.92 million in 2020, according to the latest available data, which is a jump of 10 percent.

Nearly every state saw an increase in abortions since 2020, although neighboring states with restrictions saw the biggest jumps.

For example, abortions in New Mexico have increased 257 percent since 2020 because the state borders Arizona, which restricts abortion after 15 weeks, and Texas, where the procedure is illegal.

Additionally, Kansas saw a 114 percent increase, which could be due to the fact that it borders Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas, where the procedure is completely banned.

Mifepristone is one of two drugs used to initiate abortion. Guttmacher researchers discovered that almost two-thirds of abortions are the result of these types of drugs

Guttmacher’s report found that abortion rates were highest in states bordering countries with restrictions. For example, the largest increases were found in New Mexico,

The report also found that 63 percent of abortions performed in 2023 were due to medications, such as the two-pill regimen of mifepristone and misoprotol. In 2000, no abortions were performed using this method.

However, access to abortion medication is also at stake.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 26 on a bid by President Joe Biden’s administration to preserve broad access to mifepristone, part of the two-pill regimen the FDA approved in 2000 for ending early pregnancies.

This regimen has also recently hit the shelves of pharmacies, including major retailers like CVS and Walgreens.

The method involves two medications, which are taken for a day or two. The first, mifepristone, blocks the pregnancy-supporting hormone progesterone. The second, misoprostol, induces uterine contractions.

The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided in August to reimpose restrictions on the supply and distribution of mifepristone, which the FDA had relaxed to ease access during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That decision is on hold pending Supreme Court action.

The FDA claims the drug is safe and effective, pointing to its decades of use by millions of American women with extremely rare side effects.

The report also comes after America’s first-ever over-the-counter contraceptive, Opill, became available online. It is planned to be rolled out in pharmacies later this month.

Last week, Vice President Kamala Harris visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as part of her campaign to defend abortion rights.

“Many of you have asked why I am here in this facility in particular and I will tell you that it is because we are facing a very serious health crisis in our country right now, and the crisis is affecting many people in our country, most of whom, quite frankly, we are silently suffering,” she said.

The anti-abortion group SBA Pro-Life America denounced the vice president ahead of her visit, saying Harris had spent her “entire career in the pocket of Big Abortion.”