This month, the #WeCount project by the Society of Family Planning released final abortion estimates for calendar year 2025. Unfortunately, the news is not particularly good for pro-lifers. The Society of Family Planning estimates that 1,126,760 abortions took place in calendar year 2025. This represents a 1.6 percent increase from 2024. Overall, the Society of Family Planning numbers are broadly consistent with the abortion estimates that have been released by the Guttmacher Institute.

Unsurprisingly, the #WeCount figures show that telehealth abortions are playing a large role in this abortion increase. Overall, in calendar year 2025, 28 percent of all abortions took place by telehealth. In comparison, only 13 percent of abortions were done by telehealth in 2023, and only 22 percent were done by telehealth in 2024. Since many women residing in states with strong pro-life laws are obtaining abortions via telehealth, these telehealth abortions are undermining many pro-life laws that were passed since the Dobbs decision.

The new report provides evidence that policy changes are having a large impact on abortion numbers in the post-Dobbs era. In November 2024, Missouri voters placed legal abortion in their state constitution — striking down Missouri’s strong pro-life protections. Unsurprisingly, the number of abortions increased by over 68 percent in the Show-Me State. Similarly, in September 2024, a judge struck down North Dakota’s life-at-conception law. The #WeCount data indicate that in 2025, abortions went up by over 57 percent in North Dakota. Finally, abortions increased by nearly 6 percent in Delaware, in part because in January 2025, the state Medicaid program started to cover elective abortions.

Overall, this #WeCount report provides further evidence that stopping telehealth abortions needs to be a top priority for pro-lifers. The pro-life laws that have been passed since Dobbs have certainly done some good. Multiple analyses of state birth data have shown that these laws have saved thousands of lives. However, these state pro-life laws are weakened by the presence of telehealth abortions. A recent Lozier Institute report shows that these telehealth abortions are largely unregulated. Majorities of entities that administer telehealth abortions within FDA guidelines do not check the gestational age of the child, the age of the pregnant woman, or do a follow-up. This is an important public health concern. The Trump administration’s FDA need not wait for the completion of a study to halt telehealth abortions.