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US abortions rise: 1 in 5 pregnancies terminated in 2020

Abortion Report
Posted at 12:32 PM, Jun 15, 2022
and last updated 2022-06-15 13:32:36-04

The number and rate of U.S. abortions increased from 2017 to 2020 after a long decline.

That's according to new figures released Wednesday by a research group that supports abortion rights.

The Guttmacher Institute counted about 930,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2020.

That's up from about 862,000 abortions in 2017 when national abortion figures reached their lowest point since the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide.

The institute found that one in five pregnancies ended in abortion in 2020.

The report comes as the Supreme Court appears on track to overturn that decision.

Guttmacher conducts the nation's most comprehensive survey of abortion providers every three years.

Medication abortions accounted for 54% of U.S. abortions in 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic may have played a part in some states that saw fewer abortions.

In New York, abortions increased from 2017 to 2019 but decreased by 6% between 2019 and 2020.

In Texas, there was a 2% decrease between 2019 and 2020.

But some states saw an increase, which may have been due to the expansion of Medicaid access to abortion.

In Illinois, abortions increase by 25% between 2017 and 2020.