Why Abortion Rates Plummeted As Access Shrank In Virginia

VIRGINIA — Abortion rates are declining nationwide, but the legislative stampede to get a precedent-overturning case to the U.S. Supreme Court that would strike down Roe v. Wade isn’t a contributing factor, according to a new study released by the Guttmacher Institute. The number of abortions nationwide declined 19 percent from 2011-2017.

In Virginia, pregnancy terminations dropped 41.5 percent, according to the study, and fewer clinics offered abortion during the same time frame. By comparison, the number of abortions increased by 5.9 percent in the District of Columbia during the same timespan.

Though 32 state legislatures passed 394 new restrictions on abortion from 2011-2017, abortion rates also fell in states with less restrictive laws, the reproductive health and rights research group said in its report. Instead, the biggest reason for the decline is that women aren’t becoming pregnant as often, researchers said.

If abortion restrictions had been the force behind the abortion decline, birth rates would have increased, the Guttmacher Institute said. Instead, birth rates were down in every nearly every state.

Notably, the report showed the U.S. abortion rate in 2017 was at its lowest level since 1973, when Roe v. Wade was decided. The rate dropped to 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44, a decline of 8 percent from 2014.

Even if the flurry of anti-choice legislation isn’t driving down abortions, restrictions on a medical choice that has been legal for U.S. women for 46 years can “still inflict serious harm,” Elizabeth Nash, a senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, said in an emailed statement.

“Underneath the national trend are the individual struggles and burdens that anti-abortion policymakers are creating for people within their states,” Nash said. “We need policies that ensure patients can obtain and afford reproductive health care from contraception, to pregnancy to abortion.”

While the number of clinics that perform abortions increased nationwide from 2011-2017, Guttmacher said women in some areas of the country don’t have a nearby option — especially if they live in the South, where the number of clinics decreased 9 percent.

In Virginia, the number of clinics providing abortions declined to 25 from 21 between 2011 and 2017. In the District of Columbia, the number of providers dropped from five to four during the same timeframe.

Guttmacher said TRAP — targeted regulation of abortion providers — played a big role in shutting down abortion clinics in some states, including Texas and Ohio, making it more difficult to get an abortion.

Virginia lawmakers enacted seven pieces of legislation restricting abortion from 2011-2017. The Guttmacher Institute says that the Commonwealth has these restrictions on abortion:

• Most patients must receive state-directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage them from having an abortion, and then wait 24 hours before the procedure is provided. Counseling must be provided in person for women within 100 miles of the provider and must take place before the waiting period begins, thereby necessitating two trips to the facility.
• Health plans offered in the state’s health exchange under the Affordable Care Act can only cover abortion in cases of life endangerment, or in cases of rape or incest.
• Abortion is covered in insurance policies for public employees only in cases of life endangerment, rape, incest or fetal impairment.
• The parent of a minor must consent and be notified before an abortion is provided.
• Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape, incest or fetal impairment.
• A patient must undergo an ultrasound at least 24 hours before obtaining an abortion; the provider must offer the patient the option to view the image.
• An abortion during the third trimester may be performed only if the patient's life or health is endangered.

District of Columbia officials did not pass legislative restrictions during this period. The District's policy on abortion is:

• Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.

National polls show unwavering support for abortion rights. The Pew Research Center said last month that support for legal abortion is as high now as it has been in two decades of polling, with 61 percent of U.S. adults saying abortion should be legal in most if not all cases. While the poll showed little appetite among respondents to see a complete reversal of Roe — only three in 10 wanted that — the results showed a major area of concern among the majority to be the same outlined in the Guttmacher report: In the Pew poll, 59 percent said some states are making it too difficult for women to get an abortion.

Some other findings from the report:

• Abortion rates decreased in almost every state, but there was no evidence linking the decline to abortion restrictions;
• Eighteen states did not enact any new abortion restrictions, yet they accounted for 57 percent of the decline in abortions nationwide;
• Only five states and the District of Columbia saw increases in abortion, and four of those states tightened abortion laws.