An analysis of Internet searches "show[s] a hidden demand for self-induced abortion reminiscent of the era before Roe v. Wade," economist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz writes in an opinion piece for the New York Times' "SundayReview."
Increase in Internet searches for self-induced abortion
According to Stephens-Davidowitz, the analysis found "there were more than 700,000 Google searches looking into self-induced abortions in 2015." In comparison, there were about 3.4 million searches for abortion clinics.
Of the searches for self-induced abortion, about 119,000 queried "the exact phrase 'how to have a miscarriage,'" Stephens-Davidowitz writes, while others queried variations of the phrase, such as "how to self-abort." He notes that another 160,000 of those 700,000 searches "ask[ed] how to get [medication abortion] through unofficial channels -- searches like 'buy abortion pills online' and 'free abortion pills.'" Further, Stephens-Davidowitz writes, "There were tens of thousands of searches looking into abortion by herbs"; another "4,000 searches looking for directions on coat hanger abortions, including about 1,300 for the exact phrase 'how to do a coat hanger abortion'"; and "a few hundred looking into abortion through bleaching one's uterus and punching one's stomach."
Stephens-Davidowitz writes that Mississippi, which has only one abortion clinic, was the "state with the highest rate of Google searches for self-induced abortion." According to Stephens-Davidowitz, the Guttmacher Institute categorizes eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of self-induced abortion searches as "hostile" or "very hostile" to abortion rights. In contrast, he notes that "[n]one of the 10 states with the lowest search rates for self-induced abortion are in either category."
Outlining larger trends in abortion search data, Stephens-Davidowitz notes that search rates for self-induced abortion remained steady between 2004 and 2007, but increased in late 2008, "coinciding with the financial crisis and the recession that followed," and jumped significantly, by 40 percent, in 2011. He cites Guttmacher, which "single[d] out 2011 as the beginning of the country's recent crackdown on abortion; 92 provisions that restrict access to abortion were enacted." In contrast, "There was not a comparable increase in searches for self-induced abortions in Canada, which has not cracked down" on abortion rights, Stephens-Davidowitz states.
Link between searches and self-induced abortion rate
Stephens-Davidowitz writes that while the search data cannot show "how many women successfully give themselves abortions," data on abortion and birth rates "sugges[t] that a significant number may."
According to Stephens-Davidowitz, "In 2011, the last year with complete state-level abortion data, women living in states with few abortion clinics had many fewer legal abortions." He explains that women living in the 10 states with the fewest abortion clinics per capita, such as Mississippi and Oklahoma, "had 54 percent fewer legal abortions" than women in the 10 states with the most abortion clinics per capita, such as New York and California. This means 11 fewer legal abortions "for every 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44" in the states with the fewest abortion clinics per capita, he writes.
Further, Stephens-Davidowitz notes that while women living in the 10 states with the fewest abortion clinics "also had more live births," the "difference was not enough to make up for the lower number of abortions." He writes, "There were six more live births for every 1,000 women of childbearing age" in those states. According to Stephens-Davidowitz, the difference suggests there were "some missing pregnancies in parts of the country where it was hardest to get an abortion," although "more research must be done on rates of pregnancy and unintentional miscarriage" to assess how the rate of self-induced abortion affected the birth rate.
Stephens-Davidowitz cites other research indicating a "surprisingly high" rate of self-induced abortion in Texas, as well as another study showing that few people involved in an abortion disclose their experience. He notes that people are probably "even less likely" to disclose a self-induced abortion. While "[i]t will take years before researchers fully make sense of how to interpret this new data," Stephens-Davidowitz writes, "there is an unambiguous fact in Google search data that the eight justices of the Supreme Court and everyone else should know. In some parts of the United States, demand for self-induced abortion has risen to a disturbing level" (Stephens-Davidowitz, "SundayReview," New York Times, 3/5).
