The number of abortions in the US has increased since a Supreme Court decision overturned a case that guaranteed the right to have one.
There were an average of 98,990 abortions per month in the US between January and March 2024, according to the latest report from the US-based non-profit professional organisation The Society of Family Planning, which added that the volume of abortions was higher than in 2022 and 2023.
The number of monthly abortions in January 2024 also passed 100,000 for the first time since the organisation began tracking them two years ago.
The rise comes despite near-total bans on the procedure in 14 US states enacted since the court's June 2022 decision that overturned the 1973 case Roe v Wade.
“While the volume of abortions has increased, we know that this isn’t the full story,” said Alison Norris, co-chair of the #WeCount report and professor at The Ohio State University College of Public Health.
“Even as we see the increase in abortion volume nationally, the burden on an individual living in a state with an abortion ban is enormous, especially if they need in-person abortion care," she added in a statement.
Telemedicine drives increase in abortions
The non-profit organisation said the increase was driven by telemedicine appointments that accounted for 20 per cent of all abortion services as some US states expanded access to abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court decision.
Telehealth accounted for just 5 per cent of abortion care in the second quarter of 2022.
There were more than 9,000 abortions a month provided via telehealth services in the first part of this year to people in states with bans on abortion, the report found. This is when a clinician provides abortion medication through the mail after a remote consultation.
These were carried out under shield laws in six US states that protect health professionals who offer care to people in states with bans on such services, the report said.
The 14 states with near-total abortion bans, meanwhile, have had large decreases in the number of abortions provided in-state.
The report estimated that if abortion had not been banned in these states, there would have been 208,040 abortions in the 21 months since the Supreme Court decision.
The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs vs Jackson Women's Health Organization in June 2022 revoked the federal right to get an abortion in the US, allowing state governments to roll back abortion access.
The case prompted French lawmakers to enshrine the freedom to get an abortion in the country's constitution, while European activists are seeking EU funding for abortion services in countries with restrictions.
Malta and Poland, for instance, continue to have near-total bans on abortions.
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