Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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HEALTH

The Claim

Making abortion free of charge results in an increased rate of abortions being used as a method of contraception.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

This claim is misleading. While research shows that reducing the cost of abortion increases the number of abortions among women already facing unintended pregnancies, the specific assertion that free abortion leads women to use it *as a method of contraception* is not supported by the evidence. The most-cited historical example (Soviet era) is confounded by simultaneous contraceptive scarcity. Studies on repeat abortion find these patients were often already using contraception, not forgoing it. The claim conflates price sensitivity with intentional contraceptive substitution—a leap the research does not support.

Caveats

  • The claim conflates 'more abortions occur when cost barriers are removed' with 'women deliberately use abortion as contraception' — these are fundamentally different assertions, and only the former has evidentiary support.
  • The Soviet-era example, often cited in support, cannot isolate the effect of free abortion because contraceptives were simultaneously unavailable — making it impossible to attribute the high abortion rate to cost-free access alone.
  • Research on repeat abortion patients (Guttmacher Institute) finds they are slightly more likely to have been using hormonal contraception, directly contradicting the narrative that women forgo contraception because abortion is available.

The Receipts

  1. The Effects of Short-Term Variation in Abortion Funding on Pregnancy Outcomes - PubMed

    PubMed

  2. Effects of the Affordable Care Act on Contraception, Pregnancy, and Pregnancy Termination Rates - PMC

    PMC - NIH

  3. Abortion - World Health Organization (WHO)

    World Health Organization (WHO)

  4. Contraceptive Use over Five Years After Receipt Or Denial of Abortion Services - PMC

    PMC - NIH

  5. Access to free birth control reduces abortion rates - WashU Medicine

    WashU Medicine

  6. The Impacts of Reduced Access to Abortion and Family Planning Services on Abortion, Births, and Contraceptive Purchases - NBER

    NBER

  7. Repeat Abortion, Repeat Unintended Pregnancy, Repeated and Misguided Government Policies

    Guttmacher Institute

  8. High cost of abortion is associated with lower pregnancy rate, US study finds

    PMC

  9. Unintended Pregnancy and Abortion Worldwide

    Guttmacher Institute

  10. The relationship between contraceptive insurance coverage and subsequent abortion - Society of Family Planning

    Society of Family Planning

+ 8 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

abortion