In the years immediately following Roe v. Wade, the abortion rate skyrocketed across the country, reaching a high of 25 per 1,000 women of childbearing age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since that time, the rate nationwide has fallen by half. 

Declines in abortion are driven primarily by lower pregnancy and birth rates overall, which in turn are impacted by increased contraceptive access and use.

California, however, stopped providing abortion data to the CDC in 1998 and does not currently track abortion numbers. Why? The California Department of Public Health told CalMatters it did not have information on why it’s failing to collect this basic data.

More recent data points to a reversing trend after the overturn of Roe. The Guttmacher Institute estimates a 10% increase in the national abortion rate from 2020 to 2023, and a 16% increase in the number of abortions provided in California over the same timeframe. The institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study estimates abortions obtained within the formal U.S. health care system. Possible factors include increased availability of telehealth for medication abortion, increased financial support from abortion funds and more access in some states.