--- title: Medication Abortion Rates Increase in United States description: According to newly-released data, medication abortion rates have increased at Planned Parenthood clinics. canonical: https://time.com/4551575/abortion-pill-medical-abortion-rates/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-31T19:31:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:43.644Z og:title: More Women Are Seeking the Abortion Pill Instead of Surgery og:description: According to new data og:url: https://time.com/4551575/abortion-pill-medical-abortion-rates/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0ef2c2c8dd5fa4b/6988ac4497cdff03e76ae63d/medication-abortion-statistics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Medicine og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: More Women Are Seeking the Abortion Pill Instead of Surgery twitter:description: According to new data twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0ef2c2c8dd5fa4b/6988ac4497cdff03e76ae63d/medication-abortion-statistics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # More Women Are Seeking the Abortion Pill Instead of Surgery by [Jessie Van Amburg](/author/jessie-van-amburg/) ## Jessie Van Amburg Oct 31, 2016 7:31 PM CUT  pill pillGetty Images by [Jessie Van Amburg](/author/jessie-van-amburg/) ## Jessie Van Amburg Oct 31, 2016 7:31 PM CUT As debate over abortion rights continues to rage in the United States — with Donald Trump pledging to put [anti-abortion justices on the Supreme Court](http://motto.time.com/4538293/donald-trump-partial-birth-abortion-third-debate/ "undefined") and [Hillary Clinton swearing to uphold _Roe v Wade_](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-presidential-debates/abortion-trump-clinton-let-it-all-hang-out-n669586 "undefined") — new data shows that women are changing how they receive abortions. Women are electing to end their pregnancies with medication almost as often as those who elect for surgical abortions, according to [new data reviewed by _Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-abortion-exclusive-idUSKBN12V0CC?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews "undefined"). The data looks at abortions at Planned Parenthood clinics, and found that abortions through medication made up for 43% of pregnancy terminations in 2014\. By comparison, in 2010, medical abortions represented only 35% of abortions at Planned Parenthood clinics in 2010\. This information was previously unreleased by the organization. [Medical abortion](http://time.com/4531429/medication-abortion-ireland/ "undefined")s involve two pills — mifepristone and misoprostol — which block hormones that support pregnancy and induce uterine contractions to expel the fetal tissue. In most states, this can be safely done at home by women in their first trimester. A [March ruling by the FDA](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fda-updates-recommendations-for-abortion-pill/2016/03/30/426407de-f681-11e5-8b23-538270a1ca31%5Fstory.html "undefined") relaxing regulation on abortion pills is expected to further increase the rate of women choosing medical abortions. According to _Reuters_, the demand has tripled in recent months at clinics in Ohio, Texas and North Dakota, states that previously had some of the strictest regulations. However, overall access continues to vary by state. [Abortion rates in developed countries are at a historic low](http://motto.time.com/4328501/abortion-rates-developing-developed-countries/ "undefined"), thanks in part to increased access to contraception. The most current national abortion statistics show 13.2 abortions per 1000 women aged 15-44 in 2012, according to the [Centers for Disease Control](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6410a1.htm?s%5Fcid=ss6410a1%5Fe "undefined"). \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-abortion-exclusive-idUSKBN12V0CC?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4551575/abortion-pill-medical-abortion-rates/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4551575/abortion-pill-medical-abortion-rates/"},"headline":"More Women Are Seeking the Abortion Pill Instead of Surgery","datePublished":"2016-10-31T19:31:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:43.644Z","description":"According to new data","url":"https://time.com/4551575/abortion-pill-medical-abortion-rates/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0ef2c2c8dd5fa4b/6988ac4497cdff03e76ae63d/medication-abortion-statistics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessie Van Amburg","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jessie-van-amburg/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta0ef2c2c8dd5fa4b/6988ac4497cdff03e76ae63d/medication-abortion-statistics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Medicine","caption":"medical abortion medication abortion statistics rate","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4551575/abortion-pill-medical-abortion-rates/","name":"More Women Are Seeking the Abortion Pill Instead of Surgery"}}]}] ```