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The latest abortion report compiled by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is very significant, both because of the worrisome spike in serious complications from abortion (up 38% in just one year) and because it is the last abortion report in our state. Click here to read the full report.

Because of Proposal 3 and subsequent laws our governor and radical proabortion legislators ushered in over the last year, Michigan abortion facilities are no longer required to report statistics. Indeed, they are now unregulated and unlicensed. The substantial increase in abortion complications represented below in conjunction with proabortion elected officials simultaneously removing clinic health and safety standards and a judge halting enforcement of informed consent for a woman seeking an abortion illustrates the increased dangers women face. There is no question women who seek an abortion now are at far greater risk than they have been in recent years.

There is no justification for removing abortion reporting, since no woman’s privacy has ever been invaded in 40+ years of abortion reports in Michigan. Yet, moving forward, abortion will become a black box in the state of Michigan.

#1: Abortions increased in Michigan 

There were 31,241 reported induced abortions in Michigan in 2023. That’s a 4% increase from 2022.

More abortions have happened every year since Governor Whitmer took office, increasing 17% since 2018.

#2: Michigan’s increase came from residents, not women from other states

Abortions on Michigan residents accounted for 100% of the increase in 2023.

For the first time ever, MDHHS included statistics on location for out-of-state women traveling to Michigan for abortions. As expected, Ohio (1,532) and Indiana (695) were the top states, with the top five also including Texas (138), Georgia (67), and Wisconsin (63).

#3: Michigan abortions are increasing outside Metro Detroit

Most abortions are still performed on women living in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, accounting for 56% of abortions in 2023. However, it’s other counties in Michigan that led to this year’s increase.

Abortions in the three Metro Detroit counties increased by only 1%. Abortions in other counties with more than 100,000 residents increased by 8%. Though the Upper Peninsula represents a relatively small number of abortions in the state, abortions there increased by 21%.

Isabella County was the only county with more than 100 reported abortions in 2022 to see a decrease.

The abortion increase in rural and medium-sized counties is likely helped by expanded use of the abortion pill, which can be sent through the mail with no examination by a doctor. 55% of abortions in the state are now done with abortion pills. Most abortion facilities in Michigan are still located along or south of I-96.

#4: Michigan is seeing the highest abortion rates since tax-funded abortions

When Michigan voters ended the use of tax dollars to pay for abortions in 1988, there was a large decrease. In fact, if you project the decrease in 1989 forward to 2023, there are 278,000 people alive today because of that single policy.

However, for a variety of reasons, including economic conditions and the pro-abortion policies of the Whitmer Administration, the long-term abortion decline in Michigan has reversed. In 2023, the abortion ratio and rate on Michigan residents were the second highest since 1988.

The abortion rate was 15.0, meaning 15 of every 1,000 women of reproductive age in Michigan had abortions in 2023. The abortion ratio was 271.3, meaning for every 1,000 live births in Michigan, there were 271 abortions. One in every five pregnancies in Michigan ends with an abortion. These numbers are slightly above national averages.

#5: Abortion complications are increasing

Since 2018, serious medical complications from abortion have increased dramatically. In 2017, there were 15 reported serious complications. By 2022, that number was 178, and it increased 38% to 247 in 2023.

Most of those 247 serious complications were “retained products” (83) and “failed abortion” (122). “Retained products” means body parts of the baby remained in the womb following the abortion, and “failed abortion” means the woman remained pregnant following the abortion. Many of those women likely were forced to undergo a second abortion.

Increasing complications could be due to increased use of the abortion pill, which has a larger risk of complications than surgical abortions, especially a failed abortion. 72% of the reported serious complications were from pill abortions.

These numbers are likely a large undercount, because most abortion facilities refuse to report all complications.

#6: Abortion demographics continue aging

For the first time, the number of abortions on Michigan women ages 30 and older surpassed 10,000, with 10,485 reported in 2023.

The increase is not due to Michigan’s aging population and fewer young people; the abortion rate for women 30 and older was 12.2 in 2023, up from 6.4 in 1989.

#7: Repeat abortions are increasing

For most women, abortion is not a one-time thing. In 2022, 51% of abortions were repeat abortions. That number increased to 52.1% in 2023. The number of women who had abortions who reported two or more previous abortions was 27.6% in 2023, up from 26.4%.

So, for every four women sitting in an abortion facility, one is there having her second abortion, and another is having her third abortion (or more).

#8: Racial disparities with abortion persist

53% of abortions in Michigan are done on Black women, despite them being only about 14% of the female population. The abortion rate for White women was 6.8% in 2023, but it was nearly seven times higher for Black women, at 47.3%.

The number of White women in 2023 who were having their third abortion or more was 14.5%, but it was 38.7% for Black women.

#9: Abortions happening earlier in pregnancy

Again, increasing use of the abortion pill continues to drive changes in Michigan abortion statistics. 70% of abortions in 2023 were done on women in their 8th week of pregnancy or earlier, up from 67% in 2022. For those seeking to help women through unexpected pregnancies, the most critical moment is right after a woman sees a positive pregnancy test.

#10: Who’s having abortions?

Though the facts above should you give you a pretty good idea on who is having abortions in Michigan, let’s take a look at profile of the “median abortion client” in Michigan to sum it up. The “median client” means for this hypothetical woman, more than 50% of women having abortions share these characteristics.

In 2023, the median abortion client was a 27-year old Black woman living in Metro Detroit. She is unmarried, already has one child, and she’s having her second abortion. She’s 6 weeks pregnant. She didn’t see a doctor for a referral, finding a local abortion business online to obtain abortion pills and paid with cash.