Did You Know...?

Abortion by the Numbers

Before Roe v. Wade fell, there were 930,160 abortions (in 2020).
After Roe v. Wade fell, there were 1,037,000 abortions (in 2023), an increase of 11%.

According to a May 2026 report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute, there are now 

• 13 states that prohibit abortion
• 4 states that prohibit abortion after a heartbeat is present
• 2 states that prohibit abortion after 12 weeks

In 3 states where gestational restrictions exist, there are also restrictions on telehealth access to abortions.

According to a report in the May 1 issue of the Wall Street Journal, there are

• 14 states that have a total ban on abortion
• 3 states with a 6-week ban in effect
• 5 states with a ban in effect which is not enforced
• 19 states (including our state of New Jersey) plus the District of Columbia with protections for access to abortion, and
• 9 states with neither a ban nor protections for abortion access

Clearly, there is much work to be done here in New Jersey to protect women and their babies from the abortion industry.

Telehealth and Abortion by Mail

The Charlotte Lozier Institute also reports that the number of telehealth abortions has increased from 5% to 22% of all abortions. In addition, the FDA in 2023 removed an in-person dispensing requirement from its rules governing abortion drugs. Finally, a Supreme Court decision upheld the blocking of a restriction on distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone in the state of Louisianna, meaning that abortion pills are available everywhere in the US, including in states which prohibit abortion. The Guttmacher Institute (a pro-abortion group) reported that medication abortions (the abortion pill) accounted for 63% of all abortions in the US in 2023 (the first year after the FDA removed the in-person dispensing requirement), an increase from 53% in 2020.

In addition to the removal of restrictions on dispensing the abortion drugs, they are financially more enticing, as dispensing the drugs with clinical supervision (most likely an in-person or telehealth visit) in NJ costs up to $150, whereas dispensation without clinical supervision costs only up to $95, unless you are on Medicaid, in which case they are provided for free (regardless of immigration status).

A 2015 study found that medical abortions (the abortion pills) have four times the complications of surgical abortions (and remember, the women are most often at home when these complications occur, without medical staff readily available to interpret the symptoms). Numbers are not readily available, if at all, since 2016, when abortion pill manufacturers were released from the obligation to report any adverse events other than death from the abortion pills.

What does this mean for women?

Increased numbers of telehealth abortions means that 

• There is no in-person testing to determine the gestational age of the fetus, and using the drugs to abort a fetus over 11 weeks can result in an incomplete abortion, with complications resulting in hospitalization.
• There is no in-person testing of rH factor in mother and baby, which could lead to life-threatening complications in this or in future pregnancies.
• There is no test to determine that the pregnancy in not ectopic. An ectopic pregnancy aborted by drugs is definitely life-threatening for the woman.

No requirement for in-person dispensing of abortion drugs means that

• A person other than the pregnant woman can order and administer the drugs, even unbeknownst to the woman, who may not want to abort her child. (Yes, this has happened.)
• The abortion drugs dispensed by online pharmacies may be from foreign producers, with less stringent quality controls.
• The woman usually takes the pills with her own hand, multiple times as she takes each set of pills. The process can take as long as 72 hours, with the woman having to decide over and over again to end her child's life.
• The woman is alone when the bleeding and cramping commence, with no medical personnel to determine whether the pain she is experiencing is "normal" or requires medical intervention. (Rachel's Vineyard clients have reported horrific pain and life-threatening bleeding, as well as complications due to incomplete abortions
• The aborted fetus, placenta, and blood are flushed down the toilet, where it contaminates local water supplies.

These are all very serious problems for the women having abortions.

After the Abortion

After having an abortion, 34% of women said their outlook of themselves or their decision changed negatively, and they suffered from depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and thoughts of suicide. Many (82%) did not know where to go for help, and 39% didn't seek help, but said they could have benefited. 24% did seek post-abortive help.

Sources

• Support After Abortion study, conducted by ShapardResearch, Oklahoma City, OK. This study surveyed 14,000 women, 114 of which met the criteria of having personally used the abortion pill.
• Upadhyay, Ushma D, et.al. "Incidents of Emergency Department Visits and Complications after abortion," Obstetrics & Gynecology, Volume 25, Issue 1, pp 175-183, January 2015
• https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/abortion/the-abortion-pill/how-does-the-abortion-pill-work.
• https://www.plancpills.org/abortion-pill/new-jersey#ways-people-get-pills
• Guttmacher Abortion Provider Census and Monthly Abortion Provision Study (guttmacher.org)