The national conversation around abortion has led to many misleading assumptions regarding who gets abortions and why. Here are the most recent statistics from the Guttmacher Institute, the CDC, and Pew Research Center that provide more information about abortion and abortion access in the United States.
* We use the term “women” below to be consistent with the terms of the research, with the acknowledgement that gender non-binary folks are excluded and/or misrepresented by the language of this data.
How often do abortions happen?
In 2024, clinicians provided 1,048,710 abortions in states without total abortion bans.
In 2020, there were 14.4 abortions in the US per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44.
Who gets abortions?
Between June 2021 and July 2022, in the year before Dobbs…
30% of patients receiving abortions were identified as White, 30% as Latinx, 29% as Black, 7% as of other races and ethnicities, and 4% as Asian.
55% of patients receiving abortions had already given birth at least once.
61% of patients receiving abortions were in their 20s. 2% were aged 17 or younger.
41% of patients receiving abortions had income below the federal poverty level.
84% of patients receiving abortions were identified as straight or heterosexual, 12% as bisexual, 2% as pansexual, fewer than 1% as lesbian, and 1% as something other than straight, bisexual, pansexual, or lesbian.
22% of patients receiving abortions did not have health insurance. 78% were insured.
45% of patients had Medicaid coverage, 27% had private insurance, 6% had insurance through HealthCare.gov or a different type of insurance.
What does abortion access look like in Connecticut?
15,110 abortions were provided by clinicians in CT.
There were 13 facilities providing abortion in CT.
General Regulations:
Connecticut law guarantees the right to abortion care. Husky, Connecticut’s Medicaid, covers abortion care.
Connecticut protects the right to abortion until 24 weeks (the point of viability). After viability, an abortion may be performed only if the patient’s life or health is endangered.
There are no mandatory waiting periods.
All abortions after the second trimester of pregnancy must be provided in a hospital.
Physicians, nurse practicioners, nurse midwives, and physician assistants can all perform first trimester aspiration abortions, increasing the availability of care.
Connecticut provides legal protection to people traveling from out of state for abortion care. State agencies and healthcare providers are not required to assist out-of-state investigations and prosecutions for healthcare options that are legal in Connecticut.
Patients under the age of 16 who would like to receive abortion services must first receive counseling from a licensed professional in CT. There are no parental consent or notification requirements for minors.
What does abortion access look like nationally?
For more state-by-state information, check out this interactive map produced by the Guttmacher Institute, charting abortion access and policies in every state after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
What is our project doing? Since we started in 2012, approximately…
5,000 patients served
80 students trained
30 community members trained
30 clinic staff and practitioners worked with
1500 hours spent in clinic