Total abortions in Indiana rose 13% to 9,529 in 2022, boosted by a
293% increase in nonresident abortions from women in neighboring states
fleeing state abortion bans implemented following the elimination in
June 2022 of federal abortion protection by the Supreme
Court. Abortions to Indiana residents declined 3% even as the impact
of the state’s own ban was blunted
by a lawsuit that preserved abortion access while litigation
continued.
While the Indiana Supreme Court recently upheld
that ban, the impact of the shifting legal landscape in and around
Indiana is reflected in 2022’s volatile monthly abortion totals.
Although they climbed above last year’s levels in February and remained
there through September, they spiked much higher in July, the first
month after the Dobbs decision ended federal abortion protection,
reaching 1,182, 66% higher than July 2021.
Chart
The bulk of the boom belongs to people travelling to Indiana for
abortions and who made up one in five of them in 2022. While it was the
first state to pass more restrictive abortion legislation after Dobbs,
Indiana’s ban didn’t take effect until September 15. Kentucky, Ohio and
Tennessee had trigger laws in place that outlawed abortion if federal
protections were removed. An influx from those states fueled a 1,516%
year-over-year increase in nonresident abortions in July and an overall
annual increase of 293% in 2022. Resident abortions also spiked in July,
but to a lesser degree, 12.92% higher than last year but lower than the
2022 peak of 865 recorded in March.
Eighty-three percent of nonresidents who received an abortion in
Indiana in 2022 came from Kentucky, Ohio or Tennessee, states with their
own strict abortion bans. Abortions to Illinois residents in Indiana
fell 15% in 2022 while those to Michigan residents remained the same.
Both states allow abortions up to fetal viability.
Chart
A previous analysis of Indiana abortion data from 2014 to 2021 can
be found here.