Data show that in recent years between 1,000 and 1,200 abortions were performed annually in West Virginia. But that was before the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe vs. Wade and sent the abortion question back to the states.
West Virginia’s legislature responded in September 2022 by passing a law that prohibited abortions except in very limited cases. West Virginia was among at least 15 states that have adopted restrictive abortion laws.
But many women in those states that outlaw abortions are simply going elsewhere for the procedure.
Data from the Guttmacher Institute, a policy organization that supports abortion rights, found that for the first half of 2023, one in five women who had an abortion — whether at a facility or via telehealth — traveled across state lines for the procedure, compared with one in 10 for the same period in 2020 (prior to Dobbs).
Specifically, during the first half of this year, 92,000 women traveled to another state for an abortion, compared with fewer than 50,000 in 2020.
According to Guttmacher’s analysis, “People traveling for abortion care are mainly going to states that border those with total abortion bans or early gestational bans.” So, what does that mean for West Virginia?
I could find no data on the number of women from West Virginia who have crossed state lines for an abortion. However, border and nearby states that allow abortions have seen an increase in abortions. For example:
The number of abortions performed in Maryland to patients traveling from out of state from January to June of this year is up by 4,400. There has been an increase of nearly 2,400 in Virginia, while Ohio’s numbers are up by 1,600 and Pennsylvania’s by about 1,100. North Carolina’s out-of-state abortions have risen by nearly 9,000.
In West Virginia, it is easy to at least find out-of-state options. The website abortionfinder.org provides an interactive directory that also includes information on support services. But then getting to that location is another matter. In some instances, however, it was always easier for women in some parts of this geographically diverse state to go across state lines, since the only abortion clinic was in Charleston.
According to the KFF, an independent source of health policy research, the number of abortions dropped immediately after the Dobbs decision. However, “New data show the number of abortions increased [emphasis added] overall one year following the ruling.”
Dobbs allowed West Virginia, where there is a strong pro-life political sentiment, to pass anti-abortion legislation. Other pro-life states did the same. The data show that has prevented abortions within the state boundaries, but it has not stopped women from seeking abortions in other states.
