The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
Ohio’s most recent official abortion count found an increase between 2022 and 2023, and also found the majority of abortions are still happening before nine weeks gestation.
Out-of state abortion seekers have jumped up as well, with that group making up almost 13% of the total abortions conducted in Ohio.
The annual report from the Ohio Department of Health, which has been collecting induced abortion data since 1976, showed a total of 22,000 “induced pregnancy terminations” reported in the state in 2023, a 19% increase from the previous year, according to the ODH.
The report uses information gathered from a “confidential abortion report” and “post abortion care report for complications” supplied by medical professionals who perform the procedures.
Despite the slight uptick in abortion services, both the abortion ratio – the number of abortions per 1,000 live births – and the abortion rate – the number of abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44 – are at the same level they were in 2020, and lower than all the rates from 1996 to 2017, according to ODH data.
The ODH reported the 2023 abortion rate at 8.7 per 1,000 residents ages 15-44, and the abortion ratio as 151 abortions per 1,000 live births.
Abortions induced by Ohio residents dropped to their lowest level ever recorded in 2022, and the uptick to 22,000 last year only brought the number up to levels seen in 2018 and 2020. Those numbers are still significantly down from the highest number recorded, more than 45,000 abortions in 1982.
Arguments have been thrown around among Republican political candidates, including candidates for president and U.S. Senate, that so-called “late-term abortion” is a concern, though the term does not have any basis in medical practice. Ohio’s abortion report confirms other data showing the vast majority of abortions happen very early in a pregnancy.
“More than half of all induced abortions in 2023 involved pregnancies of less than nine weeks (60.8%), with approximately 25.9% involving pregnancies of nine to 12 weeks,” the report stated.
Abortions done at 19 or more weeks gestation were at 476 in 2023, up from 342 the previous year, and 146 abortions were conducted at 21 weeks or more, representing less than 1% of all induced abortions in 2023.
Of the abortions performed after 19 weeks gestation, only one case was considered a viable pregnancy, based on medical testing done prior to the abortion.
Abortion is legal under Ohio Revised Code up to 22 weeks gestation. The reproductive rights amendment passed by voters in 2023 sets fetal viability as the legal threshold, which occurs in a range around 25-27 weeks. While state legislation was passed in 2019 to lower the legal abortion period to six weeks, that legislation has been stopped by a court as a lawsuit to try to eliminate the law entirely goes forward.
Surgical abortion was used in the majority of abortions in 2023, but medication abortion, particularly the use of mifepristone, was used in nearly 45% of cases.
More than 62% of abortions in Ohio were conducted for individuals ages 25-55, with 29% of procedures taking place for 20 to 24 year-olds.
The report also collected data on the number of living children those who had abortions had prior to the procedure, and the biggest group (36.9%) were those with two or more children. Individuals reporting no children represented 34.5% of those who had abortions last year.
The issue of abortion is still on the minds of the public and politicians as they head into the November general election, and has become a key talking point for many in their pushes for voter support for candidates. Next year’s abortion report will likely be impacted by changes made to the abortion landscape in Ohio as well, starting in late 2023.
The constitutional amendment passed in November 2023 by 57% of Ohio voters allows abortion to be “prohibited after fetal viability,” but abortion can’t be prohibited “if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health,” according to the amendment.
This year, a Franklin County judge blocked a state law requiring a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion can take place, and a Hamilton County judge allowed the medication abortion drug mifepristone to be prescribed virtually and distributed through pharmacies and mail-order services.
The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected a suit aimed at keeping mifepristone from being prescribed under the current, FDA approved standards.
In response to the newest abortion report, advocacy group Abortion Forward’s executive director Kellie Copeland said the data “shows how critically important it is to protect access to trusted providers.”
Anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life called the statistics “heartbreaking” and said the number of individuals traveling to Ohio for abortions from more strictly regulated states shows “Ohio, sadly is becoming a destination state for aborting babies,” according to ORL president Mike Gonidakis.
