Abortion businesses marked 2020 as a landmark year when, for the first time, abortion pills accounted for more than half of all U.S. abortions. That year 53 percent of abortions were done by popping a cocktail of potent pills instead of through surgical means, according to Guttmacher data.

Since then, the use of abortion pills has been on the rise. In 2023 the two-drug combination of mifepristone and misoprostol was prescribed in 63 percent of U.S. abortions.

This likely explains the results behind a newly released American Life League report showing that, while Planned Parenthood — the nation’s largest network of abortionists — has fewer brick-and-mortar facilities, the number of abortions it has performed has increased. Fewer buildings, but more babies killed. The abortion giant has moved its business online.

In 2021 Planned Parenthood had 567 facilities, but over the last four years “66 facilities closed permanently, 10 temporarily closed, and 20 new locations have opened, bringing the new total of open brick-and-mortar facilities to 509” in 2025. It is worth noting that not every Planned Parenthood facility provides surgical abortions.

American Life League has been tracking Planned Parenthood’s footprint for years, using Planned Parenthood’s own data.

At its peak in 1995, Planned Parenthood had 938 facilities and performed 139,899 abortions that year. In 2023 Planned Parenthood had 554 facilities and performed 402,230 abortions, up from 392,725 abortions in 2022, according to American Life League.

And while abortion is banned in some states, there is not a state where a would-be mother cannot get an online abortion, American Life League National Director Katie Xavios confirmed to The Federalist.

“As of 2023, all of Planned Parenthood’s affiliates offer telehealth in some capacity,” Xavios said. “Planned Parenthood is leveraging the internet to skirt state abortion laws. Even in states where abortion pills are restricted, women can book virtual appointments and receive abortion drugs in the mail. This is not only unethical, it’s illegal.”

Planned Parenthood has 43 virtual health centers in 34 states, prescribing birth control, abortion pills, and hormone drugs for transgender interventions via online or phone appointments.

“According to Planned Parenthood’s website, the organization will either send the pills to the patient’s local pharmacy or directly to the patient’s home address, as long as it is located within that virtual health center’s state,” the report reads.

Based purely on common sense, prescribing the pills would seem to be more profitable than providing a surgical procedure. An abortion business can get through more prescriptions quickly, increasing the number of customers it can serve in a day. No special equipment is needed, and done virtually, there are fewer overhead costs, such as rent, electricity, and building maintenance.  

“Planned Parenthood is first and foremost a business, and they’re very savvy,” Xavios said. “ They’ve made it very clear that abortion is their bread and butter. Abortion is their number one. So if they can move totally online, they can jump in on that and then save on brick and mortar facility costs and having to pay extra staff, and just do everything through the mail.  That makes total sense to Planned Parenthood, so they can increase their profits.”

Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.