Press Release National
ICYMI
ICYMI: Three Years After Dobbs, Thousands Forced to Travel For Abortion Care Amid Shifting State Abortion Laws
ICYMI: Three Years After Dobbs, Thousands Forced to Travel For Abortion Care Amid Shifting State Abortion Laws
Three years ago, the anti-abortion majority on the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and unleashed an unprecedented health care crisis. 21 states have since banned or restricted abortion care—forcing thousands of people to travel out of their home states each year to access abortion care.
According to new data from Guttmacher, 155,000 people traveled out of state for abortion care in 2024—almost double the amount of people who traveled out of state for abortion care pre-Dobbs in 2019. Nearly half traveled from states that have enacted total abortion bans. And what the numbers don’t show is the immeasurable mental, logistical, and financial costs pregnant people face when they are forced to travel for abortion care.
Trump and the GOP never planned to stop at ending Roe, which has been made clear by the ever-shifting patchwork of state abortion laws in the US. States like Florida that used to serve as vital access points have instead watched their own access to care be stripped away as Republican leaders continue their pursuit of banning abortion nationwide:
“‘Florida had been an important access point for abortion in the Southeast, so when the state’s six-week ban went into effect in May 2024, it was not just Floridians who were impacted, but also the thousands of out-of-state patients who would have traveled there for care,’
[…]
‘The most extreme abortion bans are concentrated in the South, which makes it disproportionately difficult for people living in that region to exercise their fundamental right to bodily autonomy. But we know that abortion funds, clinics and providers throughout the South are working tirelessly—and with limited resources—so that as many people as possible can get the abortion care they need and deserve.’
[…]
‘Everyone deserves the abortion care that best meets their needs, whether an in-person abortion at a clinic, medication abortion received via telehealth (including from providers operating in states with a telehealth shield law) or self-managing with medication abortion. But abortion bans make it difficult for many people to access their preferred method of care.’”
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For over 50 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.