How State Bans on Abortion Increase Costs and Cause Delays in Care
Research shows that state abortion bans significantly increase travel distances, costs, and delays for individuals seeking reproductive healthcare, leading to more complex and riskier procedures.
Research conducted by UC San Francisco reveals that states with abortion bans significantly affect access to abortion services, leading to increased delays and higher costs for those seeking care. Following the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022, 14 states implemented strict abortion bans, creating substantial barriers for individuals seeking reproductive health services. A recent survey of 855 individuals from these states between 2022 and 2024 indicates that many are forced to travel much farther, often over 11 hours on average, and spend nearly double the amount of money compared to before the bans. Consequently, the rate of second-trimester abortions has nearly doubled, rising from 8% to 17%, as delays become more common.
The primary reasons for these delays include the need to travel longer distances to find clinics that still provide abortion services, which also results in higher transportation costs and longer wait times—including a dramatic increase in overnight stays, from 5% to 58%. As a result, most individuals (81%) reported traveling out of state for their procedures, and very few, about 3%, carried their pregnancy to term instead. Experts warn that these delays not only cause added financial and emotional stress but also make the abortion process more complex and riskier.
Diana Greene Foster, Ph.D., a UCSF demographer and lead author of the study, emphasized that banning abortion doesn't eliminate the need; instead, it just shifts the burden onto individuals, forcing them to navigate longer, more expensive journeys. As legal battles over reproductive rights continue, the findings underscore the ongoing harm caused by restrictive abortion laws.
This study appears in the American Journal of Public Health and highlights how legislative restrictions extend beyond legal boundaries, directly impacting health outcomes and creating substantial obstacles for those in need of reproductive healthcare.
Source: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-state-delay-abortion.html
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