Since Roe, an estimated 66 million preborn babies have died by abortion

In June of 2026, the Guttmacher Institute (Planned Parenthood's former research arm and "special affiliate") updated abortion data for 2025, revealing that nearly 66 million abortions have been committed since 1973 when the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling forced legalized abortion upon every state in the nation.

• Since 2022, the year that the Dobbs Supreme Court ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, nearly 4.6 million preborn children have lost their lives by abortion.

• Now, due largely to the mailing of abortion pills, estimated abortions totals have climbed by over 21% (21.47%) since 2020, and nearly 16% (15.8%) since 2022, while the abortion rate has increased by nearly 24% since 2017 and over 11% since 2022.

Key Takeaways:

• Guttmacher's updated abortion data for 2025 allows us to estimate that nearly 66 million abortions have been committed in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade was made the law of the land.

• Since Roe was overturned by Dobbs in 2022, abortion numbers have increased nearly 16% and the abortion rate has increased by over 11%, which is likely due to the removal of the FDA's in-person requirements on the abortion pill.

• In 2017 the abortion rate was at 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44. In 2025 (based on data published March 2026), the rate was 16.7.

The Details:

Who reports abortions?

Since Dobbs, the Guttmacher Institute along with the pro-abortion Society of Family Planning (SFP)'s #WeCount have been publishing estimated abortion data nationally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has yet to release data for 2023, relies on reports sent to them by states that require the reporting of abortion statistics, and is not as comprehensive.

• Guttmacher, which has funneled at least $100 million to Planned Parenthood, did not begin publishing abortion data until 1973. In past reports, Guttmacher relied on the “Institute’s Abortion Provider Census (APC), fielded every three years since 1974″ and described as “the most comprehensive data collection effort on abortion provision in the United States.” Guttmacher claimed that “Each census is a sustained effort requiring a long fielding period, significant follow-up and substantial time and effort from abortion providers themselves.” In late 2023, after nearly 50 years of using the same methodology, Guttmacher changed and began publishing monthly abortion estimates, which it openly suggested is less reliable than the previous method. The amount of reported data has changed over time but is still considered and underestimation because currently, Guttmacher does not include data about 'advance provision' of abortion pills (which is not FDA-approved), the number of abortions provided under "exceptions" to pro-life laws, or abortions "not provided by US clinicians" —which would include the ordering of the abortion pill through a website.

• #WeCount data, according to SFP, includes "abortions within the formal US healthcare system, defined as medication or procedural abortions provided by a licensed US clinician operating within their licensed scope of practice" but the data does "not reflect self-managed abortions, defined as ending a pregnancy without the involvement of a licensed clinician operating within their licensed scope of practice, such as medications provided by community networks, clinicians providing care outside their licensed scope of practice, or websites that sell medications outside of the formal US healthcare system." SFP was 

The True Story Behind Roe v. Wade

National death toll

Beginning in 2017, the United States saw the end of a long-term decline in the number of abortions, with numbers beginning to tick upwards year after year. By 2020, abortions totaled 930,160 — an increase of nearly 8% from 2017.

By 2023, the year that mail order abortion pills were permanently enabled by the FDA, abortions had increase nearly 14% (13.85%) from 2020 and then increased again in 2025 by over 21% (21.47%).

Today the abortion pill makes up at least 65% (or more) of all abortions (an estimated 734K+ in 2025 alone) currently committed in the United States.

Since 1973, the estimated death toll of preborn lives ended by violent abortion has now reached nearly 66 million, with over 4.6 million of those abortions committed since the year the Dobbs decision was decided (2022).

Abortions in 2025

Data for 2025 was previously released by Guttmacher and SFP as follows:

• Guttmacher Institute (published March 2026): 1,126,000 abortions for 2025, also claiming the 2025 total was largely unchanged from the 1,124,000 estimated in 2024.

• SFP's #WeCount data (published June 2026): 1,126,760 abortions for 2025.

However, in June of 2026, Guttmacher updated abortion data for 2025 from the 1,126,000 estimated total previously reported to:

• 2025: Updated to 1,129,900 in June 2026 — an increase of nearly 4,000.

Abortion rates

The highs and lows for abortion rates (abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44) are listed below:

• 1973: The year that Roe v. Wade was decided, the abortion rate was 16.3.

• 1980 and 1981: Abortion rates peaked at 29.3.

• 2017: In 2017, the abortion rate dropped to lowest on record, falling by 20%, "from 16.9 in 2011 to 13.5 in 2017."

More recently, the abortion rate has been increasing:

• 2020: "the abortion rate increased from 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 in 2017 to 14.4 per 1,000 women, a 7% increase," Guttmacher reported.

• 2025: "The abortion rate in 2025 was 16.7 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44. This is the same as the rate for 2024, a 5% increase from 2023 (when the abortion rate was 15.9), and a 16% increase from the 2020 rate," wrote Guttmacher in March.

The 16.7 rate is close to the same rate seen in 1973 and similar to rates from 2011 and 2012. While rates were substantially higher in the immediate years after Roe, increases since 2017 and again post-Dobbs are a cause for concern.

Abortion estimates (so far) in 2026

According to Guttmacher's "monthly abortion provision" data, a total of 292,130 abortions were committed in the first quarter of 2026 as follows:

• January 2026: 102,510

• February 2026: 92,230

• March 2026: 97,390

These estimates are also subject to change.

Abortion increases since Dobbs

The Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court ruling overturned Roe on June 24, 2022.

• Between 2022, when an estimated 975,700 (full year) were committed, and 2025, when there were an estimated 1,129,900 abortions recorded by Guttmacher, abortions have increased over 16%.

• Between 2022 (full year), when Dobbs overturned Roe and 2026 (first quarter estimates), nearly 4.6 million abortions have been estimated to have been committed.

Abortion rates have also risen by more than 11% since 2022:

• 2022: 15 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44.

• 2025: 16.7 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 (based on data published March 2026)

Abortion increases since mail order

In 2023, President Joe Biden's Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) eroded REMS safety requirements for the abortion pill known as REMS, by removing the in-person dispensing requirement for the drug and enabling mail-order abortion pill and pharmacy dispensing.

A look at abortion data reveals an increase of more than 21% in recent years:

• In 2020, Guttmacher previously reported a national total of 930,160 abortions and first claimed that "medication abortion crossed the threshold to become the majority of all abortions." By 2023, Guttmacher recorded an estimated 1,059,000 abortions, an increase of nearly 14% (13.85%) from 2020.

• However, when we compare 2020 abortion totals (930,160) to the updated 1,129,900 estimated for 2025, we can see a drastic increase of over 21% (21.47%).

• Between 2022 (975,700) and 2025 (1,129,900), abortions increased nearly 16% (15.8%). 

Pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute authors previously acknowledged  that "it is likely that the increased availability of telehealth medical abortion has contributed to the overall increase in abortions in the US."

This was also confirmed in a second analysis from SFP's #WeCount data. In a June 2026 press release, SFP wrote, "Abortions remain elevated, driven by telehealth and shield law provision telehealth," which "accounted for 29% of abortion care in the U.S. by the end of 2025."

The Bottom Line:

We have no way of knowing the true damage done by abortion in terms of provable, hard numbers — but what we can surmise is that the erosion of in-person dispensing for the abortion pill has caused abortion numbers to skyrocket to levels we have not seen since 2009.

While the numbers are increasing year after year, they are still not as high as they were at their peak in 1990, when 1.6M abortions were committed that year.

Abortion is the intentional ending of a human preborn life, and must be abolished.