US Clinical Abortions Decline 5% in Early 2025 Amid New Restrictions

Access to abortion has been in flux over the past three years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturned the federal right to abortion. Shanna Madison/Chicago Tribune/TNS/Getty Images

The number of abortions performed by clinical staff in the United States declined in the first half of 2025. This points to the impact of new restrictions and the rising number of interstate trips for medical care.

After the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs, which overturned federal abortion rights, access to services remained a matter of regional differences and varying state regulatory regimes. In 2023 and 2024, the overall picture showed an increase in procedures in many states despite bans, but in 2025 there was a noticeable decline, documented by the Guttmacher Institute and released on Tuesday.

According to the mid-year report, the total number of abortions provided by clinical staff fell by 5% compared with the same period last year – about 4,700 fewer procedures per month.

Context: regional differences and restriction factors

Data for much of the first half of the year does not always reflect the final dynamics for the full year; the decline is most pronounced in states with bans after six weeks of pregnancy and in neighboring states where full bans are in place.

Interstate trips to obtain an abortion remain significantly more frequent than in the pre-Dobbs period – about one in seven people who sought an abortion in the first half of 2025 crossed state lines; however such cases were 8% lower than the previous year.

These trends likely reflect the impact of recent abortion restrictions, the growing availability of medical abortion due to shield laws in states with full bans, increased difficulty traveling for medical care, and rising pressure on abortion funds and networks that support interstate travel.

In Florida, which has become a key access hub for abortions, in 2023 roughly a third of abortions in the South and one in twelve nationwide occurred there. However, in May 2024 a six-week moratorium took effect, after which there were significant changes in the regional structure of access.

In the first half of 2025, the number of abortions performed by clinicians in Florida fell by 27% compared with the same period of the previous year; this decline of about 2,000 procedures per month accounts for more than 40% of the national decline.

Since 2023, monthly abortion-provision data have consistently underscored the devastating impact of early restrictions on access to abortion. In Florida, this trend continues.

Eight states have enacted shield laws that provide legal protection to providers in places where abortion remains legal, so they can prescribe medical abortion via telehealth to people residing in states with bans or restrictions.

Guttmacher does not include data on abortions provided under shield laws in its reports, but the Society of Family Planning accounts for such data, and their figures are rising. According to the organization’s latest report, in December about 14,000 abortions were provided through shield laws.

Shield laws and direct financial assistance to patients are necessary for people in states with restrictions to obtain the abortion they need. In the context of growing threats to abortion access, bold and decisive political steps are needed.

State agencies are conducting their own safety and effectiveness checks of one of the drugs used in medical abortions, which raises new concerns about access. Earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary signed a joint letter to 22 Republican state attorneys general stating: “The Administration will ensure proper protection of women’s health by thoroughly investigating the circumstances under which mifepristone can be safely used.”

Major medical associations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, have urged expanding access to mifepristone. Yet anti-abortion activists argue the opposite, claiming the drug is unsafe and that the FDA needs greater scrutiny. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block access to the drug but left the door open for future regulatory changes, drawing attention to federal agencies such as the FDA.