Looking for an abortion clinic can be a tough and often daunting process. For a woman whose fetus was unlikely to survive, it took calling more than a dozen abortion clinics before finding one that would take her, only to be put on weekslong waiting lists once she did. And she is not alone. A teen waited seven weeks for an abortion because it took her mother that long to get her an appointment. Others seeking the procedure faced waits because they struggled to travel hundreds of miles for care.
Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, such obstacles have grown more common, causing delays that can lead to more complex, costly and riskier abortions, especially as pregnancies get further along. About half of U.S. states now have laws that ban or restrict access to abortion, leading to an increase in demand for appointments at the remaining providers.
At various points since Roe, waits in several states stretched for two or three weeks, and some clinics had no available appointments. Now, even as wait times have lessened, people still encounter other challenges. People may miss the window for medication abortions, and a dwindling number of clinics provide abortions as people move through the second trimester. Costs for the procedure change, too, from up to $800 in the first trimester to $2,000 or more in the second trimester.
Rising demand pushes up waits. At least 66 clinics in 15 states stopped providing abortions in the 100 days after Roe was overturned, according to an analysis last year by the Guttmacher Institute. The necessity for people to travel out of state is at the root of abortion delays.