{"id":314125,"date":"2024-06-28T10:38:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T15:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=314125"},"modified":"2024-06-27T16:11:57","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T21:11:57","slug":"out-state-abortion-travel-doubled-roe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/out-state-abortion-travel-doubled-roe\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Out-of-state abortion travel has ‘more than doubled’ since when Roe was in effect"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization<\/em> overturned Roe v. Wade<\/em>, states have been allowed to pass their own abortion laws. As certain states began to pass stronger protections for preborn human beings, other states began to eliminate protections \u2014 and ‘abortion travel’ became a hot-button issue.<\/p>\n

Some companies began funding abortion travel as a “benefit” to employees, and abortion funds began to pay for airfare, hotels, and the like in order to assist women living in pro-life states to obtain abortions in states where abortion was more available. Since that time, the Guttmacher Institute (a former \u201cspecial affiliate<\/a>\u201d of Planned Parenthood) has noted that abortion travel has increased. However, recent reports also allege that abortion funding for travel expenses and abortions may be starting to taper off.<\/p>\n

Tragically, as Live Action News\u00a0previously<\/a> documented, it is much more difficult to reach women with pro-life alternatives to abortion once they travel outside their home states for abortions.<\/p>\n

More than 170,000 Abortion Clients Traveled Out-of-State in 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the latest data published<\/a> by the Guttmacher Institute in May of 2024, \u201c\u2026 over 170,000 patients traveled out of state in 2023 to seek abortion care.” The precise abortion travel figure was \u201c171,300 people…” according to<\/a> USA Today.<\/p>\n

The number represents nearly 17% of total abortions (1,037,000) reported<\/a> in 2023 and is an increase from abortion travel<\/a> numbers just a few years prior.<\/p>\n

\u201cOut-of-state travel for abortion care has more than doubled since 2019 when 73,100 patients traveled across state lines for abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute\u2019s\u00a0Monthly Abortion Provision Study project<\/a>,\u201d a\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0from USA Today read.<\/p>\n

This shouldn’t be surprising given the fact that Dobbs<\/em> changed the landscape of state abortion laws drastically.<\/p>\n

\"Abortion<\/p>\n

Abortion Travel in 2023 New York Times using Guttmacher Data<\/p>\n

Abortion Travel Beyond Border States<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Guttmacher<\/a>, there are 14 states that have “near total abortion bans”: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, however, many of the people traveling from restrictive states went to states that now have total abortion bans,” wrote<\/a> Guttmacher in June of 2024. For instance, in 2020, more than 800 Louisiana residents traveled to Texas for abortion care; following the overturning of Roe v. Wade<\/em> in 2022, that was no longer possible. In 2023, more than 3,500 Louisianans traveled across multiple states to get care in places like Florida, Illinois and Georgia.”<\/p>\n

In 2023, Texas, the largest state to protect nearly all preborn children, \u201chad the most residents travel across state lines for the procedure, the data shows,\u201d claimed<\/a>\u00a0the New York Times.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0downloadable abortion travel data<\/a> showed that Texas residents traveled to multiple states for abortions in 2023, including 14,200 to New Mexico; 4,000 to Colorado; 6,720 to Kansas; 1,150 to Florida; and 3,580 to California, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf the 10,570 abortions Tennessee residents obtained in other states last year, 7,120 traveled to Illinois, 1,280 to North Carolina and 880 to Virginia,\u201d The\u00a0Tennessee Lookout<\/a> claimed. \u201cTennessee residents also obtained abortions in California (220), Georgia (950), and South Carolina (120).”<\/p>\n

\"Abortion

Abortion travel from Texas to multiple other states, 2023 (Graph: Guttmacher Institute)<\/p><\/div>\n

In 2023, \u201cStates bordering ban states had particularly large increases [in abortion travel],\u201d Guttmacher wrote<\/a> in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn total, abortions in these states increased by 38% between 2020 and 2023, with particularly sharp increases in Illinois (37,700 more abortions than in 2020, or an increase of 71%), New Mexico (15,070 more abortions, an increase of 256%), Virginia (14,420, an increase of 77%) and North Carolina (13,890, or 44%). Much of the increase in these states was due to increased travel across state lines. Illinois, for example, provided abortion care to an estimated 26,000 more patients from out of state, accounting for 69% of its overall increase,\u201d the pro-abortion group added.<\/p>\n

Guttmacher clarified that \u201c[n]ot all increases at the state level can be attributed to increased travel across state lines, however. Even states not bordering ban states saw large increases\u2014in total, abortion numbers increased in these states by 18%\u00a7<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0from 2020 to 2023. It is very possible that, while access was dramatically curtailed for people living in ban states, access substantially improved for residents of states without bans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Large Increases in Out-of-State Abortions\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a\u00a0news release<\/a>, Planned Parenthood of Illinois claimed that since Dobbs<\/em>, PPIL has seen a \u201c47% increase\u201d in abortion travel with \u201can unprecedented number of out-of-state patients traveling from 41 different states making up nearly a quarter (25%) of PPIL\u2019s overall abortion patients (before\u00a0Dobbs\u00a0<\/em>it was 3-5%).”<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Tribune News Service (MSN)<\/a>, \u201cThe Illinois Department of Public Health in April awarded a\u00a0$2 million grant<\/a>\u00a0to Planned Parenthood of Illinois and two other organizations \u2014 the Chicago-based Midwest Access Project and the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing \u2014 to increase abortion training statewide, citing the steep rise in need following the Dobbs decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0media outlet<\/a> cited Gov. J.B. Pritzker as describing the state as \u201can oasis for women seeking reproductive care,” and pointed\u00a0out how new facilities are opening in the state, writing, \u201cEquity Clinic<\/a> is among a slew of new clinics that have opened in Illinois following the overturning of Roe. It was founded in February 2023 by Dr. Keith Reisinger-Kindle,\u201d where \u201cabortion training\u201d is a\u00a0 \u201ccornerstone\u201d to help \u201cfoster the next generation of abortion providers.”<\/p>\n

\"2023<\/p>\n

2023 Abortion Travel Number and Percent by State (Spreadsheet: Guttmacher Institute)<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly 70% of the estimated 21,000 clinician-provided abortions in New Mexico last year involved patients who traveled from neighboring Texas [14,200], according to data released this month,\u201d\u00a0reported<\/a> the Santa Fe New Mexican, adding that\u00a0\u201cout-of-state abortions in New Mexico increased from 38% in 2020 to 71% in 2023.”<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported<\/a>, \u201cAbortions in Pennsylvania among out-of-state residents rose nearly 41% in 2022, driven largely by patients from Ohio and 20 other states that restricted access after the Supreme Court\u2019s decision, according to the latest available data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

In West Virginia,\u00a0wvpublic.org<\/a> reported, \u201cAt least 2,240 West Virginia residents\u00a0traveled out of state<\/a> to receive an abortion in 2023, primarily to neighboring states with less strict abortion laws. Among them, 820 residents traveled to Maryland, 600 traveled to Pennsylvania, 590 traveled to Virginia and 230 traveled to Ohio, according to the Guttmacher Institute\u2026This coincides with a growing percentage of abortions provided to out-of-state residents in Maryland, Ohio and Virginia.”<\/p>\n

A recent study<\/a> claimed, \u201cFollowing the Dobbs decision, 14.3% of abortions in Oregon were to out-of-state residents compared to 9.6% prior to the Dobbs decision. Out-of-state individuals had a significantly higher odds of having abortions in the second or third trimester and having a procedural abortion compared to their in-state counterparts.”<\/p>\n

And, according to\u00a0NPR<\/a>, \u201cThe latest data show<\/a>\u00a0that from January to December 2023, 14,180 abortions, or 69% of Kansas abortions, were performed on out-of-state residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abortion Travel and Trafficking\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Big Abortion and its supporters are committed to financially assisting women to kill their preborn babies with violent abortion rather than helping women to carry to term. In essence, abortion industry representatives are morphing<\/a>\u00a0into\u00a0abortion travel agents<\/a>\u00a0to enrich their own pockets.<\/p>\n

As such, a number of\u00a0funding and assistance organizations<\/a> have formed, and\u00a0cities<\/a>\u00a0(here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>) and\u00a0states<\/a> are offering abortion funding as well. In addition, multiple companies have\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0their\u00a0intentions<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0pay for abortion travel<\/a>, and the Biden Administration has all but\u00a0declared<\/a> abortion travel a constitutional right.<\/p>\n

Organizations like\u00a0Elevated Access<\/a>\u00a0vow to fly women across the country for abortions, mobile abortion vans are lurking in border states to kill preborn children, and in Texas, the\u00a0First Unitarian Church of Dallas<\/a>\u00a0is involved in a program that\u00a0flies low-income women from Texas to New Mexico for abortion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other means include:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Placing abortion vans in\u00a0border<\/a>\u00a0states (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • Arranging free flights for women who seek abortions out-of-state (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • Creating abortion ships (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • Abortion tourism (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • Abortion trafficking by luring teens out of state (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • City and state abortion havens (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • Billboards ads (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here,<\/a>\u00a0here<\/a>)<\/li>\n
  • State and federal abortion websites (CA<\/a>,\u00a0NV<\/a>,\u00a0NY<\/a>,\u00a0HHS<\/a>,\u00a0PA<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • Colleges funding abortion travel (here<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • Former abortion facilities remaking themselves as\u00a0\u00a0abortion \u201creferral\u201d clinics<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  • States becoming abortion havens (here<\/a>).<\/li>\n
  • Companies offering financial abortion assistance (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here)<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  • And the ongoing\u00a0flouting<\/a>\u00a0of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety regulations on the abortion pill, including\u00a0underground networks<\/a>\u00a0that illegally import the drugs across the border (here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>,\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \n
    \n

    NEW <\/p>\n

    Five colleges say they would pay for students\u2019 abortion travel.<\/p>\n

    \u27a1\ufe0f College of Wooster
    \u27a1\ufe0f Kenyon College
    \u27a1\ufe0f Oberlin College
    \u27a1\ufe0f University of Idaho
    \u27a1\ufe0f Vanderbilt University<\/p>\n

    Latest in a series of policies being put into place to expand abortion…<\/p>\n

    — Live Action News (@LiveActionNews) August 31, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n