Women in some states are ordering abortion pills from overseas, which may be acting as a substitute for traveling to get the procedure. This is evident in states like Arkansas, where even though abortion is banned, the increase in birth rate is not as high as expected based on driving distances alone. The availability of ordering pills from overseas is relatively new, and the information about it may be spreading unevenly across the country.
From the moment that Roe v. Wade was overturned, the question was just how much the change would reduce abortions across the United States. Now, more than a year later, the numbers are in.
Margot Sanger-Katz, who writes about health care for The Upshot, explains why the results are not what anyone had expected.
Guest: Margot Sanger-Katz, a domestic correspondent for The New York Times.
Background reading:
- The first estimate of births since Dobbs found that almost a quarter of women who would have gotten abortions in states that banned it carried their pregnancies to term.
- The first full-year census of U.S. abortion providers showed significant increases in abortion in states where it’s legal.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.