Traveling for abortion care was on the rise even before Roe was overturned, data shows

Well before the Supreme Court ruled in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, 9% of abortions in the U.S. were obtained by people who had to travel out of state, according to data released Thursday by the Guttmacher Institute, a policy organization that supports abortion rights.

That number -- nearly 1 in 10 abortions in the U.S. -- is up from 6% in 2011, an increase that occurred at the same time as more states passed abortion restrictions, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Now, with the power to decide abortion access returned to the states by the Supreme Court, abortion rights advocates say the number of women forced to travel for abortion care is already growing.

Amanda Carlson, director of The Cobalt Abortion Fund, which provides financial assistance to people traveling for abortion care, said in the days following the Supreme Court's decision, the fund helped more than 50 people travel to Colorado for abortion care.

In all of 2021, the fund helped 34 people travel, according to Carlson.