What the data tells us about abortions in Mass.

Also: A new look at COVID's worldwide toll [View in browser](    [❤️]( May 9, 2022 Hello CommonHealth reader, Abortion has dominated the news cycle since the [draft opinion that suggests the Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade]( leaked out last week. As I read about it, I was left wondering: How common is abortion in Massachusetts? And how would a post-Roe period in the United States compare to the pre-Roe period? Here's what I found: The most recent information we have comes from 2020, when there were 16,452 abortions in Massachusetts. That translates into roughly 18% of all pregnancies, which is very similar to nationwide trends. While each person’s path to an abortion is unique and often difficult, data from the state’s Department of Public Health offers a glimpse into the lives behind the numbers. Three out of every four people (75%) who had abortions were in their 20s and early 30s, and nearly three-quarters (74%) of abortions happened at 8 weeks of pregnancy or earlier. More than half of the people who sought abortions (57%) had previously had a child and nearly half (48%) had a previous abortion. Although there isn’t great data on education, the data we do have suggests 75% had no college degree. And 83% are unmarried. But perhaps the most dramatic trend is how sharply the number of abortions has dropped in recent years. A decade ago, the state had somewhere around 24,000 abortions a year — more than 40% higher than current levels. Why the drop? “It’s really simple,” Rebecca Hart Holder, director of Reproductive Equity Now, told me. “The Affordable Care Act increased access to birth control, decreased the number of unintended pregnancies and then you had a lower rate of abortion.” Elizabeth Nash, of the Guttmacher Institute, a leading research organization that supports abortion rights, told me there are two other factors likely playing a role, too: More people are struggling with infertility, and [people are having less sex](. My colleague, WBUR reporter Martha Bebinger, has been reporting on the latest twists and turns in the abortion debate. So, I asked her a few questions about this particularly charged moment: The Guttmacher Institute says [pills are now the most common]( way people end a first trimester pregnancy. What will things look like if Roe v. Wade is overturned? Martha: There will be a push to increase awareness of the two-pill combination and make the medications more widely available, even in states that ban all forms of abortion. There are websites based in the U.S., Europe and Canada that arrange a prescription for the pills and mailing. There are legal helplines that offer advice about how to retrieve the meds, avoid detection, and what to say if someone needs medical care after an attempted abortion. At the same time, abortion opponents are tightening laws related to medication abortion and trying to close loopholes. In other words, abortion bans will likely result in lots of additional downstream battles around access for years to come. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, how might this affect public support for abortion rights? Martha: Abortion opponents say a decision that leads to more abortion bans will help normalize the idea that abortion should be illegal. Some conservative groups say there's a cultural shift happening across the U.S. when it comes to abortion. A rejection of Roe v. Wade will cement that change, they say, and make it easier to dismantle state abortion protections. On the other hand, abortion rights supporters say they expect waves of anger and protests as people grasp the loss of choice about whether to have a child. One thing we know for certain: The issue is far from settled. We will be reporting on what happens in both the data and the debate as the abortion landscape shifts. P.S.— How you eat effects your health — but what about the health of our planet? Find out in our new pop-up environmental newsletter, “[Cooked: The search for sustainable eats]( which launches tomorrow! In just three weeks, reporter Barbara Moran will not only explain how your food choices make an impact on climate change, but she’ll also give you tips to apply to your daily life (think recipes, shopping advice and other food hacks). 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