Get Answers to Important Questions Before Abortion: Medical Considerations and National Trends

If you recently found out you’re pregnant, you may be feeling lots of different emotions. Especially if the pregnancy was unplanned, perhaps you feel scared, confused, happy, sad, angry, or overwhelmed. If you are unsure of what to do, that only adds to the emotional roller coaster. If you’re considering abortion, you need to get answers to important questions before undergoing a procedure. Give yourself permission to take the time you need to gather information and make a calm, educated decision, as you have the right to make your own choice without pressure or judgment.

Essential Questions to Ask Before an Abortion

Our goal is to empower you by equipping you with the resources you need to make the best decision for your health and future. By seeking support, you have an opportunity to get answers to important questions such as:

• Am I really pregnant?
• How far along am I?
• Is this a viable pregnancy?
• What information do I need about abortion?
• What support resources are available to me?

Medical Viability and the Role of Ultrasounds

Before proceeding, first, you need to know if you’re truly pregnant. Next, you need to know whether the pregnancy is viable. In other words, is the pregnancy growing in the proper place inside the uterus? The truth is that 20% or more of early pregnancies miscarry on their own. An early pregnancy ultrasound will be able to tell you if the pregnancy is viable and how many weeks along it is.

Knowing the length of gestation (how many weeks old the pregnancy is) is important because it will determine what type of abortion procedure is appropriate and what the approximate cost will be. Please note that Jewel Women’s Center does not perform abortions or make referrals for abortions. As a non-profit organization, Jewel Women’s Center never profits from your decision, which allows for a truly pressure-free experience.

Stability in the Number of Abortions and National Access Trends

Stability in the Number of Abortions from 2023 to 2024 in US States Without Total Bans Masks Major Shifts in Access. New full-year estimates from Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study show that the total number of abortions provided in all US states without total abortion bans remained relatively stable between 2023 and 2024, increasing by 1%. Despite a year characterized by large shifts in the abortion care landscape, the total number of abortions provided across all states without total bans stayed relatively steady in 2024 at 1,048,700.

The overall stability in the number of abortions in states without total bans continued despite shifts in policy that have increased obstacles to accessing this care in many states. For instance, the proportion of people traveling across state lines to obtain an abortion declined slightly, from 16% to 15%. This stability at the national level masked substantial variability across individual states.

Data Summary: Changes in State-Level Abortion Provision in 2024

The following data highlights significant shifts in provision and access across various states and service types:

• Florida: Experienced a particularly sharp decline in the number of abortions provided after a six-week ban went into effect in May 2024; there were 11,200 fewer abortions provided in the state in 2024 than in 2023.
• South Carolina: South Carolina’s six-week ban went into effect in September 2023; as a result, the state had 2,700 fewer abortions provided in the state in 2024 than in 2023.
• Wisconsin: The state had a large increase from 1,300 abortions provided in 2023 to 6,500 in 2024 (an increase of 412%) as access expanded.
• Online-only clinics: The share of abortions in states without total bans that were provided via online-only clinics rose to 15% in 2024 from 10% in 2023 (an increase of around 50,000 abortions).

Where it is available, telehealth provision and the increase in online-only abortion provision speaks to the critical role that these providers continue to play as abortion access in many states becomes more restricted. In 2024, 14 states had total bans on abortion in effect, and Florida and Iowa implemented bans at six weeks’ gestation that drastically narrowed options for abortion access for both their own residents and for residents across the region more broadly.