Number of legal abortions in the U.S. 1973-2021

In 2021, there were around 626 thousand legal abortions in the United States. The number of legal abortions in the United States has decreased significantly since the early 1990’s. This number will probably continue to decrease in the coming years since many states have severely limited or completely banned abortion after the overturing of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court in 2022.

The states with the highest abortion rates

In 2021, the rate of legal abortions per live births in the United States was 20.4 per 100. In comparison, in 1990 there were 34.4 abortions per 100 live births. The states with the highest rates of abortion per live births are Illinois, Florida, and Georgia. In Florida, there were around 37 abortions per 100 live births in 2021. Florida had the highest total number of abortions that year, followed by New York and Texas. Wyoming and Missouri had the lowest number of abortions in 2021.

Out-of-state abortions

Critics of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade argue that while those who can afford it may be able to travel to other states for an abortion if their state bans the procedure, poorer residents will have no such choice. Even before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, out-of-state residents already accounted for a high share of abortions in certain states. For example, in 2021 half of abortions in Kansas were performed on out-of-state residents, while out-of-state residents accounted for around 40 percent of abortions in New Mexico. Illinois had the highest total number of abortions performed on out-of-state residents that year, with around 11,300 procedures.