MIAMI – Abortions have increased in Florida likely due to out-of-state patients who are dealing with bans, according to researchers.
The Guttmacher Institute, a non-governmental organization that focuses on sexual health, recently released a study reporting on abortions within the formal healthcare system.
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Florida’s increase was by over 4,950 from 2020 to June 2023 while there was a decrease of about 3,650 in neighboring Georgia, according to analysis by the institute’s researchers.
Other increases near Georgia, where there is a six-week abortion ban, during the same period were over 3,270 in South Carolina and over 9,000 in North Carolina, where a 12-week ban went into effect in July. Neighboring Tennessee and Alabama have total abortion bans.
Illinois experienced the highest increase with over 18,300 more abortions during the same period. Neighboring states Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri also have total abortion bans.
WeCount, a community-driven data science project in the United States by the Society of Family Planning, an international non-profit professional organization including physicians in the field of contraception science, also reports on data about abortions.
On Florida data, the researchers with WeCount also estimated periodic increases: There were about 5,410 abortions in April of 2022, about 6,730 in October; 7,180 in January; and 8,130 in March. The researchers also reported Georgia had a decrease with 4,260 abortions in April of 2022 and about 2,790 in March.
Researchers attribute this to an unintended consequence of the related changes in federal and state laws.
On Friday, The Florida Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on a challenge to the state’s 15-week abortion ban. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a 6-week abortion ban into law in April, but it will only go into effect if the 15-week ban DeSantis signed into law last year is upheld.
In 2022, The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had decriminalized abortion nationwide in 1973; and also overturned the federal protections on abortion access with the Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization ruling.
Related data from the Guttmacher Institute