Abortions up 33% in Colorado, fueled by out-of-state residents seeking treatment
Colorado has some infrastructure in place for out-of-state patients but will need to do more, providers say
Denver Post
Jintak Han/The Denver Post
Colorado is among the states with the highest spike in abortions after the collapse of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, with abortions up 33% between April and August, according to a new Society of Family Planning report.
Abortion providers say they are seeing more patients from states where abortion has been severely restricted or outlawed.
Other states with increases include North Carolina at 37%, Kansas at 36% and Illinois at 28%, the report published Oct. 28 stated. California saw a small increase during that time period, already providing the most abortions of any state per month.
In April, patients had 1,450 abortions in Colorado, according to the report. In August, that number was 1,940. The report did not include numbers for self-managed abortions — medication abortions without clinical supervision.
The numbers weren’t surprising to Dr. Kristina Tocce of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. Between June 25 and September 21, Planned Parenthood clinics in the region saw an 18% increase in abortion services, and since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, 38% were patients from out of state. Before Dobbs and the 6-week abortion ban that took effect in Texas, it was about 11%.
Read more at DenverPost.com.
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