Southern abortion bans push thousands to travel 250+ miles to North Carolina, study shows

A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, conducted by Dr. Kelsey Loeliger and colleagues, quantifies the fallout from the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling across the Southeast. In the first year after Roe was overturned, North Carolina saw its daily out-of-state abortion patients climb from 16 to 53, with over 10,000 additional seekers arriving from neighboring states. States including Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama have enacted six-week or near-total bans that exclude exceptions for rape or incest, forcing many, especially Black patients, to travel over 250 miles.

North Carolina’s own restrictions now limit abortions to 12 weeks and impose a 72-hour waiting period, adding logistical and financial strain; the Florida Access Network reports total expenses of $1,000-$1,750 per patient, not counting lost wages or childcare. Legislative proposals such as House Bill 1232 seek to ban abortions entirely and label the procedure first-degree murder. Advocates like Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and local abortion funds warn that further bans would cripple reproductive care throughout the region.