Abortion Reporting Requirements

For decades, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has partnered with states to collect aggregate statistics on abortions in the United States. The CDC does not require states to submit abortion data, but most do so through state laws requiring abortion providers, hospitals and other medical facilities to submit regular reports.

The information collected in these reports varies by state but typically includes the names of the medical facility and the clinician providing abortion care, the patient’s demographic characteristics (e.g., age, race, ethnicity, marital status and number of previous live births), the patient’s residence details (e.g., state or locality), the gestational duration of the pregnancy and the type of abortion provided.

Given the overturning of Roe v. Wade, new attention is being paid to state abortion reporting requirements, based in part on concerns that they might facilitate surveillance and criminalization of abortion patients and providers. Even states that have banned abortion since the Dobbs decision continue to enforce mandated reporting for abortions provided under any existing exceptions to those bans.

Highlights
  • 46 states plus DC have some form of mandated abortion reporting.
    • 7 states require providers to indicate the method of payment.
    • 28 states require reporting on any complications that arise.
    • 27 states require providers to record information about the patient's reason for seeking abortion care.
    • 11 states require providers to report whether the fetus was viable.
    • 13 states require reporting to indicate whether requirements for patient counseling were met.
    • 14 states require providers to report whether requirements for parental involvement were met.
Current Policy Status Table
Abortion Reporting Requirements
JurisdictionReporting requiredReporting required on:
Method of paymentComplicationsReason (patient’s health/life)Reason (rape/incest)Reason (fetal anomaly)Other reasonsViability of fetusProvider’s fulfillment of patient counseling mandatesProvider’s fulfillment of parental involvement mandates
Alabama
(total ban)		X  X*     X
AlaskaXX   X  X 
ArizonaX XXXXXX† X
Arkansas
(total ban)		X XXX   X (required if mandated counseling not performed due to medical emergency)X
ColoradoX         
ConnecticutX X       
DelawareX         
District of
Columbia		X         
FloridaX  XXXX   
GeorgiaX       XX
HawaiiX         
Idaho
(total ban)		X XXX (required for care provided to minors)   XX
IllinoisX X   X (reason must be specified as: patient request or other)   
Indiana
(total ban)		X XX*   X*XX
IowaX  X*      
KansasX  X*   X* X
Kentucky
(total ban)		XXXX*  X (reason, if known, must be specified as: abuse, coercion, harassment, or trafficking)X  
Louisiana
(total ban)		X XXXXX XX
MaineX         
MassachusettsX  X (facility report required for provision under health/life exceptions past 24 weeks) 

X (facility report required for provision under health/life exceptions past 24 weeks)

 

    
MinnesotaX X       
Mississippi 
(total ban)		X X       
MissouriX XX   X  
MontanaX XX   XX 
NebraskaX XXXXX   
NevadaX X (required for hospital patients admitted with complications)       
New HampshireX*  X*      
New MexicoX         
New YorkXXXX XX   
North CarolinaXXX       
North DakotaX XXX     
OhioX XX   X*  
Oklahoma
(total ban)		XXXXXXXX†XX
OregonX X       
PennsylvaniaX XX*      
Rhode IslandX         
South CarolinaX XXXX X†XX
South Dakota
(total ban)		XXXXXXXX†XX
Tennessee
(total ban)		X         
Texas
(total ban)		X XX    XX
UtahX XXXXXXX 
VermontX         
VirginiaX         
WashingtonX X       
West VirginiaXX X X  XX
WisconsinX X      X
WyomingX X       
TOTAL46 + DC72825111210111314

Notes: Table includes only those jurisdictions with policies in effect relevant to this topic and generally reflects the wording of state statutes.

*Reporting required at certain gestational durations and/or when provided in the context of an exception to an abortion ban.

†Arizona, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota all require reporting on hypothetical scenarios in which the fetus is "born alive" or "survived an attempted abortion."

Source URL: https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/abortion-reporting-requirements