12,000 fewer babies aborted in 2024 due to Florida's 'Heartbeat Law'

In 2024, Florida saw about 73,710 abortions, down from 85,770 in 2023—a decrease of roughly 12,100, according to The Guttmacher Institute. Florida’s law bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions for victims of rape, incest, or human trafficking, allowing abortions up to 15 weeks in those cases.

Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed the heartbeat bill into law in April 2023. A November 2024 ballot initiative that could have overturned this law was rejected by voters. A 2022 lawsuit by Planned Parenthood challenged the state’s earlier 15-week abortion ban and could have blocked the 2023 law, but Florida’s Supreme Court ruled against it.

DeSantis strongly opposed the 2024 ballot initiative, warning that it would “allow abortion in Florida up until birth and will invalidate all pro-life protections in state law.”

South Carolina’s abortions dropped by 3,500 after enacting a similar six-week ban in 2023. Even states with fewer restrictions, like Colorado and New Mexico, saw about 2,400 fewer abortions from 2023 to 2024, per the report.

In contrast, Wisconsin’s abortions surged by 388%, from 1,300 to 6,100, between 2023 and 2024. Arizona, California, Kansas, Ohio, and Virginia each reported over 3,000 additional abortions in the same period.

Out-of-state travel for abortions decreased from 169,700 in 2023 to 155,100 in 2024, with Illinois, North Carolina, Kansas, and New Mexico seeing the most out-of-state patients, according to Guttmacher. Meanwhile, about 40,000 more abortions nationwide in 2024 were performed through online clinics prescribing abortion pills compared to 2023.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, many states have tightened abortion restrictions, leaving legal limits to state discretion.

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