In June 2022, the Supreme Court of Justice (SCOTUS) decided to overturn Roe vs. Wade and Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, thus returning the power to legislate abortion to state legislatures or, put another way, to the voters of each state. Since then, states began passing laws to restrict this practice, while others opted to add the right to the state constitution.
With this in mind, the Guttmacher Institute conducted a report finding that 171,300 women crossed their state border to obtain an abortion in another jurisdiction. For example, it could be the case of a woman in Texas who finds restrictions on abortion in the Lone Star State, so she travels to Kansas for the procedure.
The statistic is from 2023, the first full year without Roe vs. Wade, during which Kansas and Illinois were the states that received the most women for abortions. North Carolina, Virginia and New Mexico are other busy states.
NEW: Data from our Monthly Abortion Provision Study found that post-Dobbs, abortion patients are traveling farther distances to access care.
The latest research is available on our newly launched US Abortion Provision Dashboard: https://t.co/opibFR6NwJ pic.twitter.com/zNiaC4vMvs
— Guttmacher Institute (@Guttmacher) June 13, 2024
According to the study, about 37,000 women chose Illinois to have an abortion, a state that allows earlier abortions between 24 and 26 weeks of pregnancy.
On the other hand, 15,800 opted for North Carolina, where the limit was set at 12 weeks, while 14,900 opted for New Mexico, where there is no term restriction.
Finally, according to a data analysis by the Center for American Progress, "people who drive longer distances for abortions are more likely to come from congressional districts with lower incomes and more diverse populations."
