Abortion numbers for 2023 are likely to reach over one million, the highest recorded in recent years.
A review of Guttmacher’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study showed that between January 2023 and October of 2023, nearly 900,000 abortions were estimated to have been committed during this time.
The data revealed that in this timeframe, an average of 88,000 abortions were estimated to have occurred each month. Extrapolating this data for the remaining portion of the year reveals that 2023 abortion are likely to reach over one million — the highest recorded since 2011. The Guttmacher Institute noted in a January 2024 email:
In the first 10 months of 2023, there were an estimated 878,000 abortions in the formal US health care system, 94% as many abortions as were provided in 2020 (930,000). Approximately 88,000 abortions have been provided in the formal health care system per month so far in 2023, so with two months of data yet to be published, it is very likely that the total number of abortions provided in 2023 will substantially exceed 2020 numbers.
Guttmacher and CDC Abortion stats (2000 – 2020) and (1973 – 2020) (Graph: Live Action News)
Guttmacher’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study reportedly “produces national and state estimates of the number of abortions provided within the formal health care system in the United States.”
“These include abortions provided at brick-and-mortar health care facilities (such as clinics or doctor’s offices) as well as medication abortions provided via telehealth and virtual providers located in the United States. This study does not collect data on self-managed abortions, which we define as abortions occurring without in-person or virtual contact with the formal health care system,” the former “special affiliate” of Planned Parenthood wrote.
Estimated abortion numbers Jan to Sep 2023 (Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Provision Study)
“The study’s estimates are generated by a statistical model that combines data from samples of providers with historical data on the caseload of every US provider. As more data are collected each month, estimates for past months become more precise. Each estimate is expressed as an uncertainty interval, which quantifies our confidence that the true value falls within a particular range,” Guttmacher also stated online.
Additional Abortion Data
Abortion numbers have been ticking upward since 2017.
In 2020, before Roe was overturned, Guttmacher recorded 930,160 abortions committed nationally — an increase of 67,840 over the 862,320 reported in 2017.
Live Action News previously documented that in 2021, the CDC recorded 625,978 total abortions reported nationally from 48 reporting areas. CDC revealed that unmarried women, those in their 20s, and women who have experienced a previous ‘live birth’ but never had a prior abortion were among those who obtained the majority of abortions. Tragically, Black women saw the highest rate and ratio of abortions that same year.
But previously reported estimates published by Society of Family Planning (SFP) appear to confirm the possibility of reaching over one million abortions in 2023.
SFP’s October 2023 #WeCount data estimated that 1,072,240 preborn babies were killed after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, between June 2022 and June 2023. This includes 88,600 committed by virtual-only abortion pill dispensaries.
Abortion Travel Doubled Since 2020
Abortion travel could be driving the higher-than-expected numbers.
“According to the Guttmacher Institute… about 92,100 women crossed state lines for an abortion in the first half of 2023 – more than double the number in a six-month period in 2020,” Reuters recently reported. “Some states, like Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho, have sought to stop that by making it a crime to help, or pay for, such travel. Lawsuits over such measures are pending in Alabama and Idaho.”
In 2023 alone, according to Guttmacher, nearly one in five women traveled out of state for an abortion, double the number in 2020.
“According to the latest data from the Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study, the proportion of patients traveling to other states to obtain abortion care has doubled in recent years, reaching nearly one in five in the first half of 2023, compared with one in 10 in 2020,” the pro-abortion group wrote.
In an internet filled with abortion misinformation, I want to uplift the latest data from @Guttmacher: 1 in 5 patients will travel out of state for abortion care in 2023. A surge compared to 2020 — and, unfortunately, our new normal. https://t.co/yckCq70K0L
— Alexis McGill Johnson (@alexismcgill) December 21, 2023
“These are the first comprehensive data measuring the magnitude of interstate travel for abortion after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022,” Guttmacher claimed in a release e-mailed in early December. “People traveling for abortion care are mainly going to states that border those with total abortion bans or early gestational bans. States that had the highest increases in out-of-state abortion patients in the first half of 2023 include Florida, Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico and North Carolina.”
Guttmacher then advocated the dangerous idea of shielding abortion providers from prosecution or licensing censure, despite many abortionists having had questionable practices leading to the harm or death of women. In addition, the former “special affiliate” to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion corporation in the nation, advocated for allowing anyone to commit abortions.
“Policies that protect and expand access, such as those that permit any qualified health care provider—not just physicians—to offer abortion care or shield laws that protect providers from criminal investigation from hostile states, have been critical in helping states meet patients’ needs,” Kelly Baden, vice president for public policy at Guttmacher, said in the release.
What is Driving Increased Abortion Travel?
According to Guttmacher, restrictions placed on abortion after the Supreme Court’s ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade in the June 2022 Dobbs decision has been a factor in driving increased abortion travel.
Since that time, Live Action News has documented multiple ways abortion advocates have worked at the behest of Big Abortion to expand the violent procedure. These include:
- Placing abortion vans in border states (here,here, here, here).
- Arranging free flights for women who seek abortions out-of-state (here, here here).
- Creating abortion ships (here, here).
- Abortion tourism (here, here, here).
- Abortion trafficking by luring teens out of state (here, here).
- City and state abortion havens (here, here).
- Billboards ads (here, here, here).
- Companies offering financial abortion assistance (here, here, here, here, here).
- And the ongoing flouting of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety regulations on the abortion pill, including underground networks that illegally import the drugs across the border (here, here, here, here).
In addition, according to reports, private funding of abortion for women seeking to end the lives of their own children is also on the increase.
“For example, the Baltimore Abortion Fund distributed almost three times the funds in 2022 as in 2021, and the National Network of Abortion Funds also estimated that their disbursements to callers seeking support tripled in the year after Dobbs,” Guttmacher claimed.
Pro-life vs. Pro-abortion Legislation and Closed Facilities
In 2023, according to a legislative analysis published by Guttmacher, there were 80 pro-life measures enacted while “129 measures protecting abortion access” were enacted by 22 states this same year, “the highest number of protections ever enacted in a single year,” Guttmacher claimed.
In addition, the pro-abortion organization claimed that as of mid-December of 2023, “4 states are enforcing total bans with limited exceptions, including two new bans enforced this year,” and “7 more restrict access under limits that also would have been unconstitutional under Roe.”
Yet, Guttmacher also pointed out that, “In 2023, four states—Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon—affirmed or established the legal right to abortion in their state constitutions or state statutes. Ohio did so through a ballot measure…”
“There are now seven states that have protected the right to abortion since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision (including California, Michigan and Vermont, all of which did so in late 2022),” Guttmacher added.
The Good News
Despite the climbing abortion numbers, there is good news.
A total of five cities passed pro-life sanctuary measures of some kind in 2023.
In addition, six counties also passed pro-life sanctuary measures in 2023, with five of the six passing ordinances limiting abortion trafficking.
And, according to the latest report from the Abortion Care Network (ACN), 23 “independent abortion clinics (IAC)” closed in 2023. As Live Action News previously detailed, IAC’s — or “Indies,” as they are often called — exclude Planned Parenthood facilities, hospitals, and physician’s offices.
In addition, a recently published Operation Rescue (OR) survey, which likely includes both independent abortion clinics as well as Planned Parenthood facilities, found that “In 2023, 49 abortion clinics closed or halted abortions. Between 2022 and 2023, a total of 136 abortion clinics have stopped killing. Cities that had abortion mills in full operation are now abortion free! When clinics close, babies are saved!”
Editor’s Note, 1/18/24: This post has been updated since its original publication to add recent Guttmacher reported numbers.
