But the statistics were skewed by the addition of telehealth abortions halfway through 2023.
Today, the Society of Family Planning’s #WeCount project released updated abortion estimates. The project found that in 2024, 1,142,230 abortions were performed — a reported increase of more than 8 percent from the previous year. A key finding from the #WeCount report was that over 21 percent of all abortions that took place in 2024 were done via telehealth. This #WeCount report has already received a great deal of coverage from several media outlets including The Hill, the Wall Street Journal, Axios, the Associated Press, and ABC News.
Not surprisingly, there is less here than meets the eye. An important reason why the #WeCount project reported increasing abortion numbers in 2024 is because it started counting telehealth abortions only in July 2023. It is certainly plausible that telehealth abortions became more prevalent in 2024. However, the fact that the project counted no telehealth abortions in the first six months of 2023 certainly skews the numbers. It also means that the overall 2024 abortion estimates should not be directly compared with the overall 2023 estimates.
A closer look at the state-level abortion estimates released by #WeCount reveal further problems. In the 27 states where abortion was legal in both 2023 and 2024, abortions increased by about 4 percent. However, in the twelve states where abortion bans were in effect in both 2023 and 2024, the #WeCount estimates indicate the number of abortions nearly tripled. These abortion increases in pro-life states are implausible and can only be explained by the fact that #WeCount was not counting telehealth abortions for the first six months of 2023.
That said, the #WeCount report does provide strong evidence that telehealth abortions are increasing. During the last six months of 2023, only about 18 percent of abortions were done by telehealth. However, by the last quarter of 2024, over 25 percent of abortions were taking place via telehealth. Furthermore, the data indicates that telehealth abortions are being facilitated by state-level shield laws. Shield laws make it more difficult for pro-life states to prosecute physicians who prescribe chemical abortions remotely. The #WeCount estimates indicate that nearly half of the telehealth abortions that took place in 2024 were administered by physicians in states with shield laws.
The #WeCount data all provide evidence that in a post-Dobbs world, state-level policy decisions continue to have a significant impact on the incidence of abortion. Starting on May 1, 2024, Florida started to enforce a Heartbeat Act. The #WeCount estimates indicate that abortions fell by 7 percent in the Sunshine State. Additionally, in 2023 Rhode Island started to fund abortions through its state Medicaid program. Tragically, but unsurprisingly, the number of abortions performed in Rhode Island increased by 21 percent in 2024.
Overall, it is not surprising that #WeCount chose to release this data near the three-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision. Supporters of legal abortion and the allies in the mainstream continue to aggressively push the narrative that pro-life laws are ineffective. Of course, studies that have analyzed birth data from pro-life states have found statistically strong evidence that new pro-life laws have saved thousands of lives. Three separate studies analyzing Texas birth data have found that the Texas Heartbeat Act has saved over 1,000 lives every month. Two other studies analyzing birth data from other states with strong pro-life laws have found these laws have saved tens of thousands of lives.
That said, the #WeCount report does provide evidence that telehealth abortions are prevalent and are reducing the impact of recently enacted pro-life laws. As pro-lifers celebrate the third anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision this week, we should certainly celebrate our political and legislative successes. However, we need to be clear-eyed about some of the new challenges we face. Indeed, this most recent #WeCount report provides evidence that strong pro-life laws are in fact being weakened by shield laws and telehealth abortions.