IOWA, USA — According to a new report, abortions in Iowa decreased by 38% after new abortion restrictions took effect in July. The report was done by the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that advocates for reproductive health.
To recap, most abortions were deemed illegal after cardiac activity was found in a pregnancy, which usually happens around six weeks.
Abortions decreased from an average of 400 per month for the first six months of the year to 250 in August. Those numbers include both procedural and medication abortions. Researchers collected data directly from abortion providers.
“We asked them the number of abortions they provided, the state of residence that patients are coming from and gestational duration,” Guttmacher Institute data scientist Isaac Maddow-Zimet said.
The organization Pulse Life Advocates is calling it a win.
“We've been working on this since 2018,” executive director Maggie Dewitte said. “Seeing it be enforced, and seeing these numbers going down is just a very good feeling.”
On the other side of the aisle, Planned Parenthood North Central States said the numbers were expected.
“I'm not surprised that abortions are significantly down in the state of Iowa since the new restriction that went into place,” chief medical officer Sarah Traxler said.
Most Iowans are now traveling to neighboring states like Minnesota and Illinois for abortions, which is a trend that Planned Parenthood North Central States has noticed over the past four months.
“We as an organization have really helped shore up the resources close to the borders of Iowa to provide abortion care for people in the state of Iowa,” Traxler said.
As far as the future of Pulse Life Advocates, it plans on pushing for even tighter restrictions.
“We're constantly looking towards the next step legislatively to achieve our goal to eliminate abortion from our state altogether,” Dewitte said.
Other states with similar restrictions saw similar decreases. Florida had a 30% drop in the first month of its restrictions, Georgia a 50% drop and South Carolina a steeper 70% drop.