According to an analysis from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, the number of ‘clinician-provided’ abortions in Florida dropped sharply in 2024 following the enactment of the state’s six-week protection for preborn children, which took effect on May 1. The analysis states that over “the full calendar year, there were 12,100 fewer abortions” in 2024 than in 2023 — the steepest decline in abortions across all states.
According to Axios, the number of ‘clinician-provided’ abortions in Florida declined from 85,770 in 2023 to 73,710 in 2024. In the first half of 2024, before the new law was in effect, there were about 45,000 abortions committed, but in the second half of the year, there were 29,000 abortions.
In addition, the number of women traveling to Florida for abortions also fell. In 2023, 11% of abortions in Florida were committed on women from out of state. In 2024, that percentage dropped to six percent (6%). For the second half of 2024, just two percent (2%) of abortions in Florida were committed on women who had traveled from another state.
The analysis found that rather than traveling to Florida for an abortion, many women traveled to Virginia instead, as the number of out-of-state abortions taking place in Virginia rose dramatically by about 4,300 in 2024.
Though the decline in Florida was reportedly sharp, it’s important to note that Guttmacher’s abortion numbers are underestimated and that the analysis does not include all abortions. Year to date for 2025, Florida has reported 8,682 abortions.
South Carolina saw the second-largest decline in abortions after Florida. Its six-week abortion law went into effect in September 2023, and as a result, the state saw 3,500 fewer abortions in 2024 than it had in 2023.
Prior to the enactment of the law protecting babies from abortion beginning at six weeks, Florida allowed abortion up to 15 weeks, though that law was stalled in a legal battle from 2022 to 2024. It took effect in April 2024 after the Florida Supreme Court overruled its previous decision from more than three decades earlier that found the state constitution protects abortion as a matter of privacy. After that law took effect, it was only a week before the six-week law was in effect.
