According to a recent survey, more than 36,000 people leave Idaho every quarter, along with 12 other states that swiftly passed abortion restrictions more than two years ago.
The study, which was published this month as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research without peer review, revealed that the effects are more pronounced for single-person households than for family households, which may indicate higher effects on younger persons.
Through the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned national abortion protections in Roe v. Wade in 2022, and the study used data as recent as early 2023 to track population shifts in 13 states, including Idaho, that implemented abortion bans.
Researchers used U.S. Postal Service change-of-address data. The study contrasted net population departures across 25 states that either preserved or safeguarded access to abortion after the Supreme Court ruling and states that prohibited the procedure.
GET THE HEADLINES FOR THE MORNING.
What impact have abortion restrictions had on Idaho’s rapid population growth?
According to a news release from a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Idaho, the study’s findings indicate that the number of people from Idaho who left the state nearly tripled when compared to the number of newcomers who relocated to Idaho. According to the announcement, that reversed previous patterns.
According to the news release, Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky, stated that these policies force people to carry pregnancies against their will, criminalize healthcare professionals for performing their jobs, and have a chilling effect on all forms of medical care. It should come as no surprise that providers and young people are fleeing jurisdictions that value punishment and control over compassion and caring. The entire health care system in states like Indiana, Kentucky, and Idaho is at risk, which will hurt all patients in need of care—not just those seeking abortions.
In an email to the Idaho Capital Sun, research co-author Jason Lindo, an economics professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, stated that the study did not provide estimates unique to any one state. In an email to the Sun, Communications Director Krista Pedersen, an affiliate of Planned Parenthood, said the group used information from the study to determine the state-level numbers.
According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates issued in December, the rapidly expanding population of Idaho seems to be growing more slowly during the past year. Yet, Idaho continues to rank among the states with the fastest rates of growth in the country.
Gov. Brad Little told reporters last week that Idaho’s abortion prohibition laws seem likely to stay the same this year while state lawmakers await the outcome of litigation contesting the bans.
OUR WORK IS MADE POSSIBLE BY YOU.
