Categories: Technology

What people are Googling in states where abortion is now illegal

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When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last Friday, many Americans were upset and confused — and they turned to the internet for answers.

The 6-3 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health immediately made abortion illegal in eight states, and it will likely become so in nearly half of all states soon. It’s a move that runs counter to what the vast majority of Americans want — 85 percent think abortion should be legal in some or all instances — and it will have far-reaching consequences on everything from the health and economic status of women to the well-being of their existing children.

To get an understanding of what’s on Americans’ minds after this historic ruling, we asked Google for the top trending questions people posed to the search engine since June 24, both in the states where abortion first became illegal following the Dobbs decision and nationally. (Trending searches show where there’s the greatest increase in searches, not the highest volume, and are a good way to sort out perennial searches from new ones.) What Americans asked sheds light on their anxieties and where the discussion may go next.

In individual states where abortion became illegal (though the bans have since been challenged in court in several of those states), the questions often involved where exactly the procedure is legal or illegal and where else people could get an abortion. In Louisiana, the No. 1 trending search question was about whether abortion was legal in Florida. In Arkansas, people asked about Texas. In Kentucky, Missouri, and South Dakota, several of the top questions people Googled were related to abortion pills — if they’re illegal, how they work, and for how long they’re effective. As Vox’s Rachel Cohen pointed out, crossing state lines to have an abortion or having health care providers mail pills to people in states where abortion is illegal presents thorny and unanswered legal questions.

Many others in states where abortion is illegal were confused about what the abortion ban meant when abortion is medically necessary. They asked if aborting an ectopic pregnancy, a life-threatening complication in which a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, was banned (most states with abortion bans have exceptions when the life of the mother is at risk, but the decision could put doctors and patients in a tough situation). They also wondered if having a miscarriage, where the fetus needs to be removed, is considered an abortion (it’s a gray area, and the ruling could certainly make doctors more hesitant). People in Arkansas and Louisiana asked if the Bible talks about abortion (it’s not explicit). Those in Utah and Alabama wanted to know why abortion is illegal.

On a national level, the trending Google search questions about abortion this last week were somewhat broader: How many abortions were performed in 2021? What does abortion mean? What percentage of abortions are medically necessary?

Importantly, people across the country made it clear their concerns about the Supreme Court decision were about more than just abortion. The No. 2 trending abortion question: What does Roe v. Wade protect besides abortion? People also wanted to know if Roe v. Wade would affect IVF, LGBTQ rights, and interracial relationships.

Other trending questions in related areas like women’s health this past week included whether the decision would affect access to condoms or birth control (it won’t, but some fear contraception could be a future target for the Supreme Court). People asked about the longest-lasting IUDs or getting their tubes tied. Nationwide search interest in the oral contraceptive levonorgestrel, IUDs, IVF, ectopic pregnancy, period tracking apps, and vasectomy reached all-time highs this month, according to Google. “Vasectomy near me” is also being searched more than ever.

The Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade leaves a lot more questions than answers. And for now, Americans are forced to go online to try and figure it out.

Here’s a full list of the top trending abortion questions on Google from June 24, when the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade was handed down, to June 28:

United States