The latest report from #WeCount, a national effort to count the number of clinician-provided abortions in the United States each month, documents two clear trends:
- Abortion numbers continue to rise in both Wisconsin and the U.S., and
- Telehealth is playing a growing role, with about one third of recent abortions for Wisconsin residents delivered by out-of-state shield law providers.
Key findings:
- In-person care still makes up most abortions in Wisconsin, provided at brick-and-mortar clinics (Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, Affiliated Medical Services, and Care for All). But in the first half of 2025, one-third of abortions were accessed through telehealth from shield law providers.
- A total of 4,280 abortions occurred in Wisconsin in the first half of 2025. Of these,
- 66% were provided by brick-and-mortar facilities, and
- 34% were orders of medication abortion pills from shield law providers. This breakdown is a major shift from before the Dobbs decision, when nearly all abortions happened in Wisconsin clinics.
- From shortly before the Dobbs decision through June 2025, more than 4,400 Wisconsinites obtained medication abortion pills via telehealth from shield law providers, and the average number of monthly orders has steadily grown.
- The total number of abortions in Wisconsin has increased substantially since the June 2022 Dobbs decision, rising from virtually zero abortions per month when abortions clinics stopped providing services in 2022 and 2023, to about 710 each month in early 2025.
What’s driving these changes?
Several factors during the study period may help explain these trends:
- After the Dobbs decision, legal uncertainty around Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion law delayed the return of in-state abortion services, which then resumed slowly as courts weighed in and the healthcare system adjusted.
- The opening of a new independent clinic, Care for All, added in-state capacity.
- Across the country, shield law providers increased access to medication abortion by telehealth, and people’s awareness of these options has grown.
Even with these increases, CORE research shows that many Wisconsinites still face significant barriers to getting the abortion care they want. Legal restrictions, cost, travel, and other structural hurdles continue to limit abortion access across the state.