Were Louisiana and Michigan's abortion increases caused by restrictions in neighboring states?
LatestAbortions have decreased in most states over the past few years, according to a new report. But it looks like restrictive laws and abortion clinic closures may have driven some seeking abortions across state lines.
The Associated Press report found a 12 percent decrease in abortions in the United States since 2010. This decline was evident in states that had recently passed restrictive laws on abortion, like Indiana and Ohio, and states that had not, like New York and Washington.
Only two out of the 45 states the AP gathered data from, Louisiana and Michigan, showed a significant increase in the number of abortions over the past five years. Both states have restrictive laws in place regarding abortion, but, as the AP notes, there didn’t appear to be a correlation between a state’s abortion laws and the number of abortions performed in that state in a given year.
Instead, the report suggests that the increase in Louisiana and Michigan might be tied to an influx of women from Texas, Ohio, and other neighboring states seeking abortions.
A combination of recently introduced restrictive laws and a mass closure of abortion clinics nationwide has forced many women to look far beyond their county to induce an abortion. As Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards told the AP, “More restrictive abortion laws do not reduce the need for abortions.”
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