They HAVE dropped in numbers….
FiveThirtyEight give us a view of how American women in anti-abortion states have adjusted to efforts to deny them their ‘Right’s’….
Around 66,510 people were unable to receive a legal abortion in their home state between July and December of 2022, according to a data set shared exclusively with FiveThirtyEight by #WeCount, a national research project led by the Society of Family Planning, a nonprofit that supports research on abortion and contraception. 1 That number includes more than 43,830 people who were unable to receive an abortion because their home state had banned the procedure, and an additional 22,680 whose home states restricted or reduced access to abortion — a list that includes Arizona, South Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, North Dakota and Indiana.
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A FiveThirtyEight analysis of the #WeCount data shows that since July 2022, the number of abortions have spiked dramatically in states like Illinois, a pattern that suggests people in states where abortion is banned are driving hundreds or even thousands of miles to reach the nearest state where abortion remains legal. Of the 66,510 people who couldn’t get an abortion near home, an estimated 35,330 seem to have traveled to obtain one. But the data also shows 31,180 people were seemingly unable to get a legal abortion at all. We don’t know whether those people remained pregnant, or got an abortion some other way.
All told, the #WeCount data, plus additional data gathered by FiveThirtyEight from state health departments, abortion providers and abortion funds, shows that there has been both a reduction in the total number of abortions and a reshuffling in the location and methods of abortion in the months since the Dobbs decision. The data also highlights that, while providers and advocates have tried to adapt to these changes — opening new clinics, helping to fund people crossing state borders and shifting toward telehealth — the Supreme Court’s ruling has made those solutions precarious. For example, abortion access in the South now heavily depends on Florida — a state that is poised to pass a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. And a recent court ruling in Texas invalidating the government approval of one of the two drugs used in medication abortion could seriously hamstring legal telehealth services and drastically reduce capacity at in-person clinics as well….
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Patients who live in states that still allow abortion and are facing long delays seem to be turning to a relatively new option in abortion access: medication abortions from virtual clinics. For people in the first 11 weeks of pregnancy, getting abortion pills this way can be as simple as filling out a form and responding to a few text messages, or doing a quick video call with a clinician. The medication typically arrives in less than a week.