The rise comes as the U.S. Supreme Court is set to rule this month in a case widely expected to end or severely curtail the right to the procedure, as indicated by a leaked draft of the court's opinion.
FILE PHOTO: In Mississippi, history of abortion struggles could be glimpse of the future - Abortions performed in the United States increased by 8% during the three years ending in 2020, reversing a 30-year trend of declining numbers, according to data released on Wednesday by the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group.
"In the 20-something years I’ve been doing research on abortion at Guttmacher, this is the first time we’ve had an increase in abortion over two years," Jones said in an interview. By comparison, abortions in Missouri dropped by 96%, from 4,710 in 2017 to 170 in 2020, as all but one provider left the state. Neighboring Illinois showed a 25% increase in abortions, indicating that women from Missouri may have sought abortions there.