PHILADELPHIA — In the hours after a draft of the Supreme Court abortion ruling was leaked on May 2, Google searches for abortion pills soared — especially in states with greater restrictions on abortion.
By the end of that week, people across America had conducted 350,000 searches for information on the pills, which can be prescribed to induce an abortion in the early weeks of pregnancy — nearly triple the search traffic from the week before, researchers reported in a new study Wednesday.
The uptick in interest died down after that, but a review of Google Trends data shows it has surged once again since the court’s official ruling came out last Friday, overturning the nationwide right to an abortion that was guaranteed under Roe v. Wade.
