Society of Family Planning’s #WeCount Study Finds Telehealth Accounts for 27% of Abortion Care in U.S.

The number of abortions continues to increase, driven by telehealth and shield law provision

DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES, December 9, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Across the United States, 27% of abortions in the first half of 2025 were provided through telehealth, according to the latest Society of Family Planning #WeCount report released today. The report highlights new data from January through June 2025 and shows that telehealth and providers working under shield laws continue to facilitate greater access to abortion care.

#WeCount found that from January through June 2025, licensed clinicians across the U.S. provided more than half a million abortions, including in-person abortions (both procedural and medication) and telehealth medication abortions. In the first six months of 2025, the percentage of abortions provided via telehealth has increased compared to previous years, up from 25% at the end of 2024, and from 5% in spring of 2022.

“Telehealth has become a lifeline for people accessing abortion care, especially those in states with abortion bans,” said Ushma Upadhyay, PhD, MPH, professor at the University of California, San Francisco’s Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) and Society of Family Planning #WeCount Co-Chair. “But this care is under assault by abortion opponents’ relentless attacks on mifepristone and telehealth—even though medication abortion is backed by a 25-year track record of safety and gold-standard science, and research shows that telehealth abortion is just as safe and effective as in-person care.”

The Society of Family Planning launched the #WeCount effort to count abortions in each state in April 2022, just before the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned Roe v. Wade and unleashed abortion bans in multiple states. #WeCount has found that:

- In 2022, the monthly average of abortions in the U.S. totaled about 80,000.

- In 2023, there were 88,000 monthly abortions.

- In 2024, there were 95,000 monthly abortions.

- In the first half of 2025, there were 99,000 abortions per month.

In 2023, several states passed shield laws, which reduce legal risk for clinicians who provide abortions to patients in states where abortion is prohibited or severely restricted. Since then, nearly all abortions in the 13 states with total abortion bans have been provided via telehealth from providers based in shield states. Abortion providers practicing under shield law protections helped an average of nearly 15,000 people get abortion care each month in the first half of 2025. By June 2025, more than half (55%) of telehealth abortions were provided under shield laws.

“People who live in states where abortion is banned are finding safe, affordable, FDA-approved medication abortion care through telemedicine, and websites such as PlanCPills.org are connecting them with that care,” said Elisa Wells, Co-Founder and Access Director at Plan C. “Access to abortion is evolving with the modern technologies of abortion pills and telemedicine, and patients and providers are embracing this new form of access. Medication abortion through telehealth is a safe, effective, and convenient option, especially for people living in a state with an abortion ban.”

“Abortion bans don’t stop people from needing and pursuing essential abortion care,” said Alison Norris, MD, PhD, professor at The Ohio State University’s College of Public Health and co-principal investigator of the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network and Society of Family Planning #WeCount Co-Chair. “Telehealth is helping people in states with bans to access abortion care—and yet it isn’t the answer for everyone. Abortion bans are causing harm, and all too often, your access to healthcare depends on where you live and how much money you have.”

See the full #WeCount report at societyfp.org/research/wecount/.

###

The Society of Family Planning is an academic society of more than 1,900 clinicians, scholars, and partners who are dedicated to just and equitable abortion and contraception informed by science. The Society of Family Planning’s #WeCount effort is a national initiative that reports the monthly number of abortions in the U.S. by state and month, starting in April 2022. #WeCount data include clinician-provided abortions, defined in this report as medication or procedural abortions completed by a licensed clinician within the U.S. in a clinic, private medical office, hospital, or virtual-only clinic. This report does not reflect any self-managed abortions, defined as any attempt to end a pregnancy outside the formal health care system.

Tara Sweeney
ConwayStrategic
+1 954-651-0665
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Bluesky

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.