The Pennsylvania Department of Health released its 2024 abortion report online in December 2025, showing a decline in the number of abortions compared to the previous year. However, the state’s data does not account for abortions obtained by Pennsylvania residents outside the state, self-managed abortions occurring outside the healthcare system, or abortion pills ordered by mail from providers in Pennsylvania or other states.
To address these gaps, the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) references additional data from the Guttmacher Institute’s Monthly Abortion Provision Study. Guttmacher’s estimates rely on surveys and statistical models and include abortions performed in medical facilities as well as those provided through telehealth services. These estimates also account for abortions obtained by Pennsylvania residents in other states.
Under Pennsylvania law, abortion is defined as any action intended to end a clinically diagnosable pregnancy with the likelihood of causing the death of the unborn child. Abortions are legal in the state up to 23 weeks of gestation, with later procedures allowed only if the mother’s life is at risk or if there is a serious and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.
Abortion Trends and Statistics
In 2024, Pennsylvania reported 32,946 abortions, representing a 7% decrease from 2023. Drug-induced abortions fell by 8% and accounted for 56% of the total. CLI estimates the abortion rate declined to 13.3 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44, down from 14.4 the previous year. As of January 2026, 24 states had released 2024 data, with 10 showing year-over-year declines.
Demographics
Most abortions (93%) were performed on Pennsylvania residents, while 7% involved women from other states, primarily Delaware and Ohio. Eight percent of abortions involved women under 20, including 2% under 18. Women in their twenties accounted for more than half of all abortions, while 35% involved women in their thirties and 4% involved women aged 40 and older.
By race, 45% of abortions were obtained by Black or African American women and 42% by white women. CLI estimates that the abortion rate among Black women was nearly six times higher than among white women. Abortions among Asian or Pacific Islander women accounted for 4%, with the remainder involving women of multiple, other, or unknown races. Fourteen percent of abortions were obtained by Hispanic women.
Eighty-eight percent of abortions were performed on unmarried women. Over half involved women with no prior abortions, while 51% involved women who had previously given birth.
Methods and Gestational Age
More than half of abortions were medication-based. Surgical procedures included suction curettage (39%) and dilation and evacuation (5%). Most abortions—69%—occurred at eight weeks of gestation or earlier. Fewer than 2% took place between 21 and 23 weeks, and none were reported at 24 weeks or later. The increase in early abortions is likely linked to greater access to medication abortion.
Complications
The report recorded 12 complications during abortion procedures and 174 pregnancies complicated by pre-existing medical conditions. After the procedures, 480 complications were reported, an 8% decrease from the prior year. Most complications were linked to medication abortions and involved retained tissue, bleeding, or infection.
