LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KT) – Abortion is currently illegal in Kentucky, one of 14 states to enforce a total ban in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade’s downfall. The lack of access drove 4,450 Kentucky women across state lines seeking to end their pregnancies last year.
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion research and advocacy organization, tracks abortion provisions nationwide. The latest data from its Monthly Abortion Provision Study includes a first: information about women who travelled out of state in 2023 to have abortions in states where the procedure is more readily available.
Kentuckians had three destinations: Illinois, Ohio and Indiana.
Illinois is classified as protective of abortion by Guttmacher, and clinicians there provided 1,850 abortions to Kentucky women last year. The state saw a 20% uptick in out-of-state abortion patients between 2020 and 2023.
Ohio is restrictive. Issue 1, a referendum passed by a wide margin there last year, enshrined the right to abortion in the state’s constitution and 1,810 women sought abortions there.
Indiana, classified as most restrictive, saw 790 Kentuckians seek abortions.
In accordance with lawful exceptions, 16 Kentuckians were provided legal abortions in-state in 2023, bringing the estimated total to 4,466. Data provided by Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services and the Guttmacher Institute do not include Kentuckians who may have self-managed abortions last year.
Guttmacher estimates that 1,037,200 abortions were provided by clinicians in states without a total ban in 2023. That’s an 11.5% increase since 2020. Approximately 63% of those pregnancies were terminated via medication abortion.
Kentuckians accounted for 0.43% of the total.
As the landscape of abortion access has shifted nationwide in the past few years, the locations Kentuckians seek abortions have changed. In 2019 and 2020, Kentuckians got abortions in bordering states: Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, but also Tennessee and West Virginia.
In 2019, 4,670 Kentuckians had abortions, and 1,650 (32.3%) crossed a border to end their pregnancy.
- Illinois (110)
- Indiana (390)
- Kentucky (3,020)
- Ohio (720)
- Tennessee (290)
- West Virginia (70)
In 2020, 5,610 Kentuckians had abortions; 61.7% occurred in-state. More than 2,100 (38.3%) Kentuckians traveled out of the state.
- Illinois (170)
- Indiana (200)
- Kentucky (3,460)
- Ohio (770)
- Tennessee (950)
- West Virginia (60)
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Friends of Life KY 