Out-of-state abortions soared in Illinois. The numbers are likely to keep rising

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

If you’ve read the latest news on the record number of women seeking abortions in Illinois since Roe v. Wade was overturned, consider these statistics, too:

Those who aren’t pregnant have also felt compelled to take action to protect themselves ever since Roe came under threat, according to a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine earlier this month.

The number of people seeking abortion pills spiked after the high court’s draft decision was leaked in May 2022. Not only did demand for the medication spike during that time period, but it did so on other occasions between September 2021 and April 2023 when news hit that access could be restricted, the JAMA research showed.

When the stress of a possible unwanted pregnancy on people who haven’t even conceived yet weighs heavily, imagine the strain on pregnant girls and women seeking an abortion when their own state has a ban or restriction on the medical procedure.

They have to do more than stockpile pills. They have to take more drastic steps, like finding an out-of-state clinic and planning for travel.

There were 92,100 people nationally who crossed state lines for abortion care in the first six months of 2023, the Guttmacher Institute found. That’s one in five patients, and more than double the 40,600 who took the same action in first half of 2020.

And it was Illinois that had the most patients seeking abortion care — 18,870 — between January and June 2023.

The year before, when the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization snatched away the constitutional right of Americans to make their own decisions about their pregnancies, nearly 17,000 patients came to Illinois for abortions.

Those numbers will likely only climb, as 2022 is expected to be the “tip of the iceberg,” as Megan Jeyifo, executive director of the Chicago Abortion Fund, told us.

Organizations like Jeyifo’s help ensure that Illinois can keep upholding its status as a haven for reproductive rights.

But as other states clamp down, the burden will only grow.

Should Florida pass a proposed bill that will ban nearly all abortions, it will have a “profound” impact here, Jeyifo said, noting that pro-abortion groups are competing with other crises for support.

Traveling already isn’t easy when it’s a vacation or family visit. Jumping into a car, bus, plane or train to get “essential” health care that has been stigmatized and politicized only adds to the physical and emotional trauma of patients, Jeyifo said.

We stressed this over the summer, and the latest data prove it once again: The fight to safeguard those seeking abortions in Illinois isn’t done.

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