Since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 decided that abortion is a matter for states to decide for themselves, fourteen states have passed near-total bans on the procedure.

The 14 states are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

While women seeking abortions are getting them through telehealth providers who mail chemical abortifacients to them or by crossing state lines to have surgical abortions conducted, a study shows birth rates are increasing in the states that have the bans.

In the first six months after Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was decided, the bans saved about 32,000 babies, according to The Institute of Labor Economics. In addition, a report from a pro-abortion group that follows abortion statistics, #WeCount, states that have the bans saw abortions drop by 180,000 between 2022 and 2023. 

In addition to the fourteen states mentioned above, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina have recently passed “heartbeat” laws, which ban abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detectable.

Nancy Flory, Ph.D., is a senior editor at The Stream. You can follow her @NancyFlory3, and follow The Stream @Streamdotorg.