Post-Roe, What Does Abortion in New York Look Like?

New York has long been at the forefront the push to access abortion. The state legalized the procedure three years before the Supreme Court ruled Roe v. Wade in 1973. Thousands of women from other states flocked in, quickly outnumbering New Yorkers to have abortions.

Now the court has overturned Roe, elected officials, abortion providers and reproductive health advocates is working again to help women across the country who may consider traveling to New York for abortion care.

State legislators passed a series of bills to protect abortion seekers and providers this year. They have directed millions of dollars in funding to efforts like Abortion Service Provider Support Funda new initiative overseen by the State Department of Health, and aimed at ensuring the security of reproductive health centers.

And, after Dobbs’ decision to sue Jackson to oust Roe was announced, the Legislature met in a special session and passed a measure. promulgate the Equal Rights Amendmentthis shall enshrined in the State Constitution the right to abortion and access to contraception.

Most New Yorkers support the right to abortion, which is legal in the state fetal viability score; one June poll of the Siena College Research Institute found that nearly two-thirds of New Yorkers support enhanced legal protections for those seeking abortions.

But about a quarter of New Yorkers support Roe’s ouster, according to the poll, and anti-abortion activists have stepped up protests in recent weeks.

Here’s a look at the abortion landscape in New York and how it could change, as other states tighten or eliminate access to abortion.

How many abortions are performed in New York?

In 2020, there were 110,360 abortions performed in New York, representing 12% of all abortions nationwide that year, according to Latest data analyzed by Guttmacher Institutea research group advocating abortion rights.

According to Guttmacher, while abortions performed in New York increased 5% from 2017 to 2019, they fell 6% from 2019 to 2020 as the state grapples with the onset of the pandemic. coronavirus outbreak, Guttmacher found. At least 10% of New York clinics report that they will stop providing abortion care by 2020.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that between 2015 and 2019, the abortion rate in New York by out-of-state residents increased from about 5% in 2015 to nearly 9% in 2019. a simultaneous increase with new procedural restrictions imposed by other states.

Access to abortion varies greatly from state to state. New York City has a large concentration of providers, but about 40% of the state’s counties, home to about 8% of women, had no clinics offering abortions in 2017. According to Guttmacher.

How has the abortion rate changed over the years?

New York has been welcoming to outsiders seeking abortions for decades. Unlike other states that passed abortion reform laws in the early 1970s, New York does not require women to be residents to access the procedure and does not impose medical or social conditions. a 1980 report by Guttmacher.

In 1970, in the months after New York passed its law, residents in the state obtained about 41,000 abortions, compared with 48,000 out of state abortions. Many New York women said they would seek “secret procedures” if they were unable to have a safe and legal abortion, the report said.

As abortion was legalized nationally, the number of women coming to New York for the procedure plummeted, from 172,000 in 1972 to 14,000 in 1979.

Although the number of abortions performed by residents in the state increased to 185,000 in 1979, it has decreased significantly in recent years, reflecting a long-term nationwide trend often attributed to increased access to birth control measures.

Can New York meet the increased demand?

As states across the South and Midwest restrict access to abortion, neighboring states that allow abortions may have limited capacity, said Elizabeth Nash, a principal policy associate at the Guttmacher Institute.

“The gap will widen for those who need abortion care and the number of clinics across the country will shrink,” she said. “So a state like New York will become more important to abortion.”

Demand may be particularly high in the Southern Tier, the area adjacent to the northern border of Pennsylvania, where The future of access to abortion is in doubtand because it’s close to Ohio, where abortion is now banned after six weeks.

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, which has 23 clinics across the state, announced in a recent call that it plans to expand its services by increasing the number of appointments by 20%, tapping the network network of abortion providers, hire more health care professionals, and expand access to surgical abortion into the Southern Tier of the state.

In New York City, one receipt introduced by Assemblyman Carlina Rivera, Democrat of Manhattan, will require the Department of Health to provide the abortion pill, which can be used for up to 10 weeks after pregnancy, at no cost to clinics and health centers. , for both New Yorkers and people from out of state.

Local anti-abortion advocates have also been active. Religious leaders celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision, and activities such as prayer gatherings outside abortion clinics continued.

“Abortion is not health care,” Joseph W. Tobin, the Roman Catholic Cardinal of Newark, said after the ruling. “It is a disastrous attempt to create a false equivalence between the taking of innocent human life and the ‘reproductive health’ of women in our society.”

But among New Yorkers who support abortion rights, there have been numerous offers in recent weeks to help women from states with restricted access to abortion.

Many groups are asking people who want to help to donate to the abortion fund and other groups that provide transportation and logistical assistance to those in need, including the New York Abortion Outreach Fund, the Brigid Coalition and Haven Alliance, and other groups.

Some groups are also helping women access abortion pills or creating programs to accompany them through the process.

“Fortunately we are not fighting this fight alone,” said Joy D. Calloway, Interim Executive Director of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. “We understand our collective obligation to protect abortion rights in New York State.”

Liam Stack contribution report.