Here is what the data shows: overall, the total number of recorded abortions in the United States has gone up since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
While total bans or heavy restrictions were implemented in over a dozen states, nationwide abortion totals actually hit their highest levels in over a decade. According to multi-year tracking by the Guttmacher Institute and the Society of Family Planning’s #WeCount project:
- The Numbers: Prior to the Dobbs decision, the U.S. averaged roughly 930,000 abortions in 2020. In 2023, that number topped 1 million. By 2024 and 2025, annual totals rose further to over 1.1 million.
Three primary factors drive this national increase despite state-level bans:
- Telehealth and Medication Abortion: Medication abortion (pills via telehealth) exploded in usage. Telehealth now accounts for nearly 30% of all abortions in the formal healthcare system.
- State “Shield Laws”: More than 20 states passed shield laws protecting local clinicians who prescribe and mail abortion pills via telehealth to patients residing in states with bans.
- Interstate Travel: Clinics in states bordering restrictive territories—such as Illinois, New Mexico, Kansas, and Virginia—saw massive surges in out-of-state patients traveling for in-person care.
The national increase hides a sharp geographic split: in-person access dropped near zero in states with strict bans, while non-banned states, virtual clinics, and support networks dramatically scaled up capacity to meet demand.