Recent numbers released by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reveal that just five abortions were committed in the state in 2023 — though that number may be underreported.
Currently, nearly all preborn children in the state are protected from abortion through a law that has greatly contributed to the dramatic drop in abortion numbers; five abortions in 2023 is considerably less than the 1,027 abortions reported in 2022, and 1,553 abortions reported in 2021. While the numbers are encouraging, they likely don’t tell the whole story, as many women may have traveled to nearby states like Oregon, Washington, or Utah for abortion.
“These are not counting abortions where the patient went out-of-state. In 2022, we did not receive records from all the states surrounding Idaho,” explained Pam Harder, the research analyst supervisor for the Bureau of Vital Records and Health Statistics, who noted that those states used to share data on their out-of-state numbers with Idaho, but now refuse to do so since Idaho’s pro-life law took effect. Unofficial reports out of Washington also show that abortions in that state rose as much as 46% last year, with that rise being attributed in part to Idaho’s law.
Additionally, the numbers don’t reflect the number of self-managed abortions, in which women took the abortion pill on their own, at home, without the supervision of a doctor. Since the abortion pill now makes up the majority of abortions, and women are able to receive the pill through the mail and without a doctor’s prescription, there is no telling how many abortions were committed via this manner. For instance, two abortion pill groups — Idaho Abortion Rights and AidAccess — told Boise State Public Radio they provided a combined 1,142 chemical abortion kits to Idaho residents in 2022.
While groups like these tout their generosity in providing abortion pills to women who are legally unable to receive an abortion, what they’re really doing is putting women in danger. Recent reporting shows that emergency room visits related to abortion pill use are estimated to be in the tens of thousands. These women are also being told they should conceal their complications and lie to doctors, advice that could hinder them from receiving the care they need. The abortion industry isn’t helping women by enabling them to travel for abortion or shipping them abortion pills covertly in the mail — they’re only endangering these women’s lives, all in the name of ending another life, that of the innocent child in the womb.
