Abortions in Nebraska dropped 25% in 2023, months after more restrictive law passed

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LINCOLN — Abortions reported to have occurred in Nebraska last year dropped 25% in the seven months after a more restrictive law took effect, compared to the same period in 2022.

The new data , released Friday by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, reports a total of 2,325 abortions in 2023, down 8.72% from the year prior. Physicians are required to report any abortions they perform or attempt to perform to DHHS, and the information is compiled in an annual report per state law .

The total number of abortions was greater than the number of procedures reported annually between 2012 and 2019 but lower than between 2020 and 2022 .

‘A tremendous start to ending abortion’

Gov. Jim Pillen signed Legislative Bill 574 on May 22, 2023, which halved the allowable window for abortions from about 22 weeks gestational age to 12 weeks gestational age. The “Preborn Child Protection Act” took effect the next day.

He celebrated the 2023 statistics as a “tremendous start to ending abortion in Nebraska” that resulted in “a victory for our culture of life and love.”

“Passage of the Preborn Child Protection Act was an historic and significant day for commonsense social conservatives,” Pillen said in a statement. “I applaud those senators who stood up for the protection of kids, including pre-born boys and girls.”

Out-of-state patients

Between June and December in 2023, an average of 158 abortions were reported each month. In the same period in 2022, the monthly average was 209 reported abortions.

Overall, fewer patients traveled to Nebraska for the procedure in 2023, at 498 patients, but they represented a higher percentage of total abortions: 21.4%. In 2022, 532 patients residing outside Nebraska sought abortions in the state, or 20.9% of total abortions.

Nonresident patients came from 19 states compared to 16 states in 2022. Most came from neighboring Iowa (222), Missouri (86), Kansas (51) and South Dakota (50). There were also multiple patients from Texas (46) and Oklahoma (22).

Out-of-state patients were also reported to come from: Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

‘We will never give up’

Ruth Richardson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States, said the report “confirms what we knew — our new reality has made it harder for Nebraskans to receive the health care they need and deserve.”

“Planned Parenthood has worked diligently to ensure every patient that comes through our doors can receive the essential health care they need, whether they are from Nebraska or have traveled from out of state,” Richardson said. “We will never give up the fight to preserve Nebraskans’ right to make deeply personal medical decisions without the interference of politicians who lack any sort of medical expertise.”

As for the reason or reasons given for the procedure, 22.6% of patients declined to answer, more than in the year prior, at 16.6%. The number of patients citing no contraception decreased from 62.3% to 12.4%. Socioeconomic reasons jumped from 4% of abortions in 2022 to 42% in 2023.

Sixteen patients cited a fetal anomaly as a reason, which is more than in the year prior. State Sen. Merv Riepe of Ralston tried to add an exception for fatal fetal anomalies to state law this year, apologizing for not fighting harder to include it in the previous law he had voted to support. His 2024 proposal failed to advance from the Judiciary Committee.

The current law includes some exceptions for emergency situations — incest, sexual assault and the life of the mother. More patients reported one of those exceptions as reasons for seeking an abortion in 2023.

An estimated 78 abortions were performed after 12 weeks gestational age, or about 10 weeks post-fertilization. That includes abortions reported between January and May 2023, before LB 574 was in effect.

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