ABORTION TRENDS AT A SINGLE CLINIC IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS BEFORE AND AFTER THE DOBBS V. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION DECISION

Objectives

We aimed to describe trends in abortion volume and gestational duration at time of abortion 12 months before and after the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of people obtaining abortions at an independent clinic in Southern Illinois for 12 months pre- and post-Dobbs. We used descriptive statistics to characterize trends and compared mean gestational duration pre- and post-Dobbs using independent sample t-tests.

Results

In total, 12,920 abortions occurred in the study period: 4,666 pre-Dobbs and 8,254 post-Dobbs (177% increase). Overall, the mean gestation duration increased from 8.8±4.3 weeks to 9.2±4.4 weeks (p<0.001), likely due to the increase in the absolute number of first trimester abortions post-Dobbs (n=2,990). When compared month-by-month, the largest increases in mean gestational duration were in July and August (pre-Dobbs: 8.8 weeks, post-Dobbs: 10.2 weeks). We observed no increase in the proportion of second trimester abortions in the 12 months post-Dobbs (14.3% vs 15.4%, p=0.11); however, we observed an increase in the proportion of second trimester abortions in July (12.0% pre-Dobbs, 16.6% post-Dobbs) and August (15.0% pre-Dobbs, 19.6% post-Dobbs).

Conclusions

Post-Dobbs, we observed a nearly two-fold increase in abortion volume. While we found only a slight increase in mean gestational duration and proportion of abortions occurring in the second trimester post-Dobbs, we did see an increase in the two months after Dobbs. These changes may reflect the clinic's dramatic increase in capacity or the impact of abortion funds on maintaining abortion access for people in restrictive states.