81,000 to 155,000
Before the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, about 81,000 people per year traveled out of state for abortion care. In 2024, that number was 155,000. Nearly double. One in six abortion patients now crosses a state line.
81,000 → 155,000. Abortion travel nearly doubled after Dobbs. Travel time went from 2.8 hours to 11.3 hours. Costs from $179 to $372.
Research published in the American Journal of Public Health measured the change precisely. Average travel time for residents of ban states went from 2.8 hours to 11.3 hours. Travel costs went from $179 to $372. That does not include lost wages, childcare, or accommodation.
The Routes
28,000 Texans traveled out of state in 2024. Not just to neighboring states. To Maryland, Michigan, New York, and Washington. Thousands of miles.
Illinois became a critical access point, receiving 35,470 patients from across the South and Midwest. When Florida’s six-week ban took effect in May 2024, Floridians traveling to Virginia jumped from 130 to 1,620 in one year. Floridians going to North Carolina went from 210 to 1,320.
These are not theoretical numbers. They are people getting on planes, driving hundreds of miles, booking hotel rooms, and taking days off work to access healthcare that was legal in their state two years earlier.
The Cost Falls Hardest on the Poorest
The travel burden does not fall evenly. A woman with savings, a flexible job, and a car can drive 11 hours. A minimum wage worker with children, no paid leave, and no car cannot.
62.7 million women and girls live in states with abortion bans. Not all of them can afford to travel. The 155,000 who did are the ones who had the resources. The ones who could not are not in the Guttmacher data. They carried pregnancies they did not choose, or they sought care outside the medical system.
Idaho lost 35% of its OB-GYNs. 50 Planned Parenthood clinics closed. 842,000 patients lost Title X access. 116 rural hospitals closed labor and delivery. The travel is increasing while the destinations are shrinking.
Read more on the Reproductive Rights hub and the Idaho OB-GYN exodus.