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Monday, Aug. 19, 2024

Are most abortions in the US done with medications?

Tom Kertscher, Wisconsin Watch
yes

Most abortions in the U.S. have been performed with medications, rather than surgery, since 2020.

Medication abortion accounted for an estimated 63% of all clinician-provided abortions in states without total abortion bans in 2023, up from 39% in 2017, according to the nonprofit Alan Guttmacher Institute.

Those percentages likely are low because they don’t include self-managed abortion, which typically is done by ordering abortion pills online, according to the health policy research organization KFF.

The latest figures from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which include reports from nearly all states, show that 56% of abortions in 2021 were done with medications, up from 53% in 2020.

A two-drug combination of mifepristone and misoprostol is the most common medication abortion in the U.S.

Wisconsin Republican Eric Hovde made the medication claim Aug. 14, 2024. He is running against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., in the Nov. 5 election.

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch

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