Nearly 5,000 abortions were performed in Kentucky between April 2021 and April 2022. The vast majority accessed the health care in Louisville.
Now, they’ll have to look elsewhere after a Supreme Court ruling Friday triggered a Kentucky law banning abortions.
Data obtained by WFPL News from the Commonwealth of Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services shows the average patient in Kentucky was an unmarried white woman in her twenties who was getting an abortion for the first time.
But it also shows that the impact reaches more than just Kentucky residents.
Hundreds of people from Indiana and Tennessee traveled to Kentucky for a procedure. Still others came from as far as Texas or Washington state. In the wake of the Supreme Court decision, Illinois will likely be the closest state in the region to provide abortions.
Most patients went to EMW Women’s Surgical Center or Planned Parenthood in Louisville. A small number received abortive health care from the University of Louisville, the Norton Women's and Children's Hospital, The Medical Center, Albert B. Chandler Hospital and Baptist Health Lexington.
