Abortions rise for first time in 30 years

Rights group’s data shows 8% increase from 2017 to 2020

After a 30-year decline, abortions in the United States rose by nearly 8% from 2017 to 2020, according to new data from abortion rights group Guttmacher Institute.

In 2020, there were 930,160 abortions in the U.S., up from 862,320 abortions in 2017, according to the survey released Wednesday. Abortion rates had been falling steadily since a peak in 1981, long before restrictive statutes in various states limited abortion access in certain areas. Experts have said access to better birth control was one of the main reasons for the previous decline.

The survey’s results come as the nation anticipates a Supreme Court ruling that will likely overturn Roe v. Wade this month. A draft opinion by Associate Justice Samuel Alito, leaked to Politico in early May, indicated that the conservative wing of the court is considering overturning the landmark decision, which could trigger bans or more restrictions in at least half of U.S. states.

The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research and policy organization, surveys all known facilities providing abortion in the U.S. every three years and uses the information, alongside state health department data, to collect facts on total number of abortions, it said.

The study also found that in 2020, 1 in 5 pregnancies ended in abortion, a increase in the abortion ratio – the number of abortions per 100 pregnancies – of 12% since 2017.

Meanwhile, in 2020, birth rates fell by 4% , the largest single-year decrease in nearly 50 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since then, U.S. births bumped back up slightly in 2021, but the number of babies born was still lower than before the coronavirus pandemic, federal officials said

At least 26 states are likely to move quickly to ban abortion if the court’s conservative majority strikes down federally protected abortion rights. Of those, 13 have “trigger laws” that would take effect immediately or through a quick state action if Roe no longer applies, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Abortion rates and trends varied greatly state-to-state between 2017 and 2020, and there were no clear patterns to explain why some had increases or decreases, the survey noted.

Such factors as expanded Medicaid coverage for abortion, the Trump administration’s restrictions on Title X funding, the impact of the pandemic and the expansion of local and national abortion funds may have had differential impacts across states, according to the institute.