NARAL Pro-Choice Washington : Issues

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Decreasing Number of Abortion Providers

Modified: 05/01/2008

Although abortion is a legal right, anti-choice government initiatives have made obtaining an abortion increasingly difficult. Consequently, the number of abortion providers has severely decreased - both nationwide, and in Washington state.

Women who live in areas without abortion providers are effectively denied their right to choose a safe, legal abortion.
87% of all U.S. counties and 97% of all rural U.S. counties have no abortion provider. These counties were home to 35% of women aged 15 to 44.(1)
In 2005, there were just 1,787 providers performing abortions in the United States, down from 2,000 four years earlier. Since 1982, the number of abortion providers has decreased by 37% and the number of hospitals providing abortions has decreased by 57%.(2)
In 2000, more than half of all U.S. providers experienced harassment by anti-choice individuals/groups. (3)
67% of Washington state counties have no abortion provider. Furthermore, since 1996, the number of providers has decreased from 57 to 49.
Women are forced to travel great distances to obtain reproductive health services. In 2005, 18% of all women in Washington in need of reproductive health care travelled at least 50 miles.
The decreasing number of providers disproportionally affects young and low-income women who lack the resources to travel.
To learn how you can help women access abortions, join the Abortion Access Network.

Footnotes:

(1) Jones, Rachel K., et al., "Abortion in the United States: Incidence and Access to Services, 2005" Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 40:1, Mar. 2008

(2) ibid.

(3) Finer, Lawrence B. and Stanley K. Henshaw, “The Accessibility of Abortion Services In the United States, 2001,” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 35:1, January/February 2003.