New Study Debunks Claim About OB-GYNs Fleeing Pro-Life States

A new study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health and other major universities has put a damper on the claim that obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs) are systematically fleeing pro-life states or ones with more liberal abortion laws.

To the contrary, the cohort study measured data collected from Jan. 1, 2018, to Sept. 30, 2024. It concluded that the number of OB-GYNs in pro-life states actually increased at a faster rate than in pro-abortion states in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. That case overturned 1973’s Roe v. Wade and returned the issue of abortion regulation to the purview of individual states and to Congress.

Based on data from more than 60,000 OB-GYNs, the report, released Monday, determined that the number of the women’s heath doctors actually increased by 8.3% in states where abortion was banned compared with 7.7% in states where abortion was protected after the Dobbs decision.

Overall, the study held that as of 2024, “the number of OB-GYNs did not significantly change across policy environments [states with varying abortion laws].”

According to the report, there are 14 states that ban abortions in almost all circumstances, and six states that have enforced bans on abortion after six to 12 weeks of gestation. The study’s findings are less surprising when one considers the fact that most OB-GYNs do not regularly conduct abortions. A Guttmacher Institute survey found that only 7% of OB-GYNs provided at least one abortion in 2013 and 2014. (Read more from “New Study Debunks Claim About OB-GYNs Fleeing Pro-Life States” HERE)