It’s been a little over four years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion. Many states have banned or severely restricted access since then. The Dobbs decision also impacted Montana, where abortion access is enshrined in the state Constitution.
The Guttmacher Institute is a nonprofit research organization that supports abortion. Guttmacher has been collecting data on how people access abortion for decades.
There were nearly 2,600 abortions in Montana last year, says Guttmacher data scientist Issac Maddow-Zimet.
“It is a pretty big increase from the number of abortions that were occurring in Montana pre-Dobbs."
Montana saw a roughly 50% increase in the number of abortions after the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2022. That increase isn’t coming from people traveling from neighboring states where abortion is banned or restricted. It’s more Montanans accessing abortion.
“And one of the big things that changed post-Dobbs is a broad infrastructure sprung up of abortion funds, practical support organizations, other kinds of support from providers themselves to make sure cost wasn’t a barrier to people accessing care,” Maddow-Zimet says.
Many funds were aiming to help people cross state lines to access abortion. But organizations in states like Montana also benefitted. They were able to help more people get and pay for care in the state.
The Dobbs decision also accelerated the buildout of telehealth services. That’s allowed more people to meet with a provider virtually.
Over 80 percent of abortions in Montana are done with medications. That’s well above the national average of 65 percent.
Maddow-Zimet says in a way, the Dobbs decision increased access to abortion care in Montana.
