According to a new study from the University of Washington (UW), the number of out-of-state residents seeking abortions in Washington state has increased by 50% since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its June 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The study was funded by the University of Washington Population Health Initiative.
As reported by The Spokesman-Review, researchers found that the number of abortions committed on women residing out-of-state in Washington increased from four percent (4%) of the state’s total abortions to six percent (6%) — a 50% increase. The total number of “procedural” (i.e. surgical) abortions carried out each week initially increased by more than six following the Dobbs decision, but, according to the study, eventually “trended back toward pre-Dobbs levels.”
The study, however, only looked at the number of abortions being committed at Cedar River Clinics, which runs three abortion businesses in the state and commits about 15% of all abortions in Washington, and a Seattle abortion facility that has since closed. The Cedar River Clinics are located in Tacoma, Renton, and Yakima. The Yakima site had been closed for about a decade, but reopened after Roe fell in anticipation of more out-of-state abortion-seeking women. The study did not look at the number of abortions committed at a new Planned Parenthood location in Wenatchee, which was opened specifically to attract women from Idaho.
Study author and UW Medicine family medicine doctor Emily Godfrey said the sample is generally representative of the entire state, but she wants to do another study that looks at the number of abortions carried out across all abortion facilities in the state.
According to UW Medicine, researchers compared the number of abortion procedures at Cedar River Clinics between January 1, 2017, through June 23, 2022, to the number of abortions from June 24, 2022, through July 31, 2023. During that entire time period, 18,739 abortions were committed. The proportion of women from Texas seeking abortion in Washington state increased from six percent (6%) to 27%.
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The authors of the study noted that because Washington only begins protecting children from abortion after the arbitrary age of viability (except to protect the health of the mother though induced abortion is not medically necessary), the state has become an abortion destination.
Although the average gestational duration among Washington residents who obtained abortions increased by nearly a week, and despite the reported influx of women from out of state, the wait time for abortion did not change significantly, according to the study. However, the study’s lead author, Taylor Riley, still argued that the study results indicated the state must put even more resources towards abortion.
“The increasing number of abortions, out-of-state patients and delays to care points to the need for increased investment in and resources for abortion care in Washington,” she said. “This could include expanding the number of abortion-providing facilities and strengthening existing primary care and telehealth accessibility, financial support and referral systems within the state.”
