How many abortions did each US state report in 2024 and what are the absolute numbers?
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Executive summary
Guttmacher’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study estimates about 1,038,100 clinician‑provided abortions in 2024 in U.S. states without total bans; roughly 155,000 people crossed state lines for care that year (15% of abortions in states without total bans) [1] [2]. Alternative tallies — notably the Society for Family Planning’s #WeCount — report a larger national total (about 1.14 million abortions in 2024), driven largely by telehealth-provided medication abortion and different inclusion rules [3] [4].
1. Two headline numbers, two methods
There is no single, universally accepted “2024 by‑state” total in public reporting because major research groups use different methods: Guttmacher estimates clinician‑provided abortions in states without total bans using provider surveys and modeling [1] [5]; the Society for Family Planning’s #WeCount aggregates monthly reports and telehealth counts and reports about 1.14 million abortions nationally in 2024 [3] [4]. Both organizations document growth since 2020 but draw different lines around what is counted — especially mail‑order pills and shield‑law provision [5] [4].
2. Why state‑by‑state absolute numbers vary by source
Differences in reported state totals come from three concrete choices: whether to include abortions provided to out‑of‑state residents, whether to count medication abortions dispensed under “shield laws” to residents of states with total bans, and how to model or impute missing facility reports [1] [6] [5]. Guttmacher explicitly reports clinician‑provided abortions in states without total bans and flags that these estimates undercount pill distribution into banned states [5]. #WeCount emphasizes monthly facility and telehealth submissions, including shield‑law flows, yielding higher national totals [3] [4].
3. Travel and telehealth reshaped the map in 2024
Both Guttmacher and #WeCount find large cross‑state flows and rapidly rising telehealth provision. Guttmacher estimates about 155,000 people traveled out of state for abortion in 2024 (15% of abortions in states without total bans) and highlights states such as Illinois as major receiving points [1] [7]. #WeCount documents that telehealth accounted for a much larger share of abortions by late 2024 — rising to about 25% in some periods — which boosts totals in states hosting telehealth providers [4] [8].
4. State totals: the reporting reality and data gaps
State health department reporting remains uneven and incomplete. The CDC’s surveillance system covers a subset of reporting areas and lags multiple years; the organization published 2022 data most recently, and reporting completeness varies by state [9] [10]. Independent reviews find many states do not collect all recommended data elements and that reporting quality often aligns with political context, complicating year‑to‑year state comparisons [11].
5. What the available sources explicitly provide — and what they do not
Guttmacher makes state‑level estimates available via its Monthly Abortion Provision Study and dashboard; it also published appendices and tables listing abortions by state for 2024 [2] [7]. #WeCount publishes monthly state‑level tables and highlights the role of shield laws and telehealth in state flows [6] [12]. Neither source in the provided set gives a single, universally agreed “absolute number for each state” that can be quoted here without reproducing their state tables; available sources do not mention a consolidated, definitive per‑state list agreed to by all stakeholders [1] [3].
6. How to get the per‑state absolute numbers and interpret them
For absolute state counts, consult the Guttmacher state tables and the #WeCount state/month tables directly — Guttmacher’s dashboard and appendices contain 2024 state estimates [2] [7], while #WeCount provides monthly state totals, including telehealth and shield‑law flows [12] [6]. When using either, read the methodology: Guttmacher excludes clinician‑mailed pills into banned states from the headline 1,038,100 figure [5]; #WeCount includes many telehealth and shield‑law prescriptions, raising its national total to ~1.14 million [3].
7. Competing narratives and the hidden agendas to watch
Advocacy and policy groups emphasize different figures to support their arguments: reproductive‑rights organizations and some media foreground higher national totals and telehealth’s compensatory role [3] [4], while analyses that focus on provider‑based clinic counts or state bans cite the Guttmacher clinician‑provided figure and stress gaps in access for residents of banned states [1] [5]. Each source’s methodology and funding orientation affect what is emphasized; users should examine appendices and method notes before drawing policy conclusions [2] [3].
Limitations: This piece relies only on the documents listed above; it does not reproduce the full state‑by‑state tables here. For absolute per‑state 2024 counts, consult Guttmacher’s appendix tables and #WeCount state tables cited in sources [2] [12].