A report from the Minnesota Department of Health revealed that the state experienced a 20% increase in the number of abortions performed last year (12,175) over 2021 (10,138).
Minnesota, governed by Democrat Tim Walz, was one of the states that legislated to preserve access to abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned. These measures were reflected in an increase in patients who traveled from other parts of the country to terminate their pregnancies in the state.
As an example, the report states that, in the first months of 2022, between 800 and 1,000 abortions were performed per month. As of August, that figure increased to more than 1,100 abortions per month.
2022abrpt by Verónica Silveri on Scribd
6.5% increase in patients from other states
In 2021, 10% of all abortions performed in Minnesota were performed on women who were not residents of the state. This percentage increased to 16.5% in 2022.
Most of the women who traveled to Minnesota to terminate their pregnancies came from neighboring states where abortion is highly restricted or banned altogether:
- Wisconsin: 2022 (874 women from this state traveled to Minnesota for abortion) vs. 2021 (634).
- North Dakota: 2022 (383) vs. 2021 (84).
- South Dakota: 2022 (271) vs. 2021 (158).
More than 300 patients came to the state from Iowa (174) and Texas (150), and a smaller number were residents of places like Missouri, Michigan and Florida.
Most abortions were performed by surgical procedures such as dilatation/curettage (7,140) and dilatation/evacuation (1,485). Another large number occurred with treatments such as the pregnancy termination pills Mifepristone (7,153) and Misoprostol (238).
