The Quickie: New Report Shows Increase in Abortion Nationwide, with High Rates of Medication Abortion

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: A new report shows increase in abortion nationwide and new polling reveals majority of Americans disagree with Alabama’s Supreme Court IVF ruling.

NEW REPORT SHOWS INCREASE IN ABORTION NATIONWIDE, WITH HIGH RATES OF MEDICATION ABORTION: On Tuesday, the Guttmacher Institute released a new report finding abortion rates higher than they’ve been in over a decade despite the overturning of Roe, with medication abortion being more common than ever. Nearly two-thirds of all abortions performed in 2023 were medication abortions, made easier by the increased access to telehealth over the past few years. 

Dr. Cherise Felix of Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida joined NBC News to discuss the benefits of medication abortion and what she’s seen on the ground, saying: “You’re able to schedule around your job, around other family obligations, and then there’s also the whole added benefit of it not being an invasive procedure.” However, access to mifepristone, one of two pills used in medication abortion, is under threat, as a looming Supreme Court case could severely restrict, or even eliminate, access to the drug.

Watch more at NBC.

NEW POLLING ON IVF SHOWS MAJORITY OF AMERICANS DISAGREE WITH ALABAMA’S RULING: Today, Navigator released new polling on Americans’ perceptions of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The polling was conducted shortly after the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that embryos are children, which restricted access to IVF in the state. The research found that 2 in 3 Americans disagree with that ruling, and that nearly 4 in 5 Americans, across party lines, think IVF should be legal.  The majority of Americans support Congress passing a national law to protect families’ ability to use IVF to have children — but only a plurality (48%) believe access to IVF is at risk, despite opponents of reproductive freedom showing their hand by passing personhood laws and abortion bans that would restrict access to care.