On the heels of the United States Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022, which guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion, more than 171,000 patients traveled out of state for the procedure in 2023, according to data analysis by the Guttmacher Institute. More than 3,000 of those patients traveled to Ohio.
The Guttmacher Institutes analysis also shows:
- 23,800 clinician-provided abortions in 2023
- 13.2% increase in Ohio abortions since 2020
- Approximately a 10% increase in abortions, year-over-year, March 2023 to March 2024
This past November, Ohio voters approved an amendment to the state constitution protecting abortion rights.
Dr. Adarsh Krishen, chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, which has surgical centers in Columbus and suburban Cleveland, told Axios the organization has seen a significant increase in out-of-state patients.
“Usually, this time of year, the number of out-of-state patients we’ve seen is in the dozens,” Krishen told Axios. “But we’re already in the hundreds in 2024.”
The Guttmacher Institute data reveals more than 37,000 people went to Illinois, which allows abortions before fetal viability (generally 24–26 weeks of pregnancy) for an abortion, nearly 16,000 went to North Carolina, which allows access to an abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy, and nearly 15,000 patients went to New Mexico, which does not impose any term restrictions.
According to another Guttmacher Institute analysis, despite the Supreme Court ruling, abortions in the United States have increased since 2023.
