ABOUT THE PROCESS: Part One

Our process of collecting data started with brainstorming potential correlations between abortion bans in the United States and other topics related to education. We chose to focus on the United States because we were curious about how the overturning of Roe v. Wade (which eliminated the federal right to abortion) in June of 2022 related to other areas of American life.

One year before the overturning of Roe v. Wade, in January 2021, “44 states introduced bills or [took] other steps that would restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism and sexism” (EdWeek). We thought the topic of critical race theory (CRT) was of interest for how CRT issues are labeled “controversial,” much like the topic of abortion in the United States.

We began by collecting data on each state’s position on abortion; in particular, we researched which states banned abortion and in which states abortion remains legal following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. We found data from The Guardian, which sourced from the “Center of Reproductive Rights, Abortion finder, and state statues.” We then imported this data into a google sheet.

Next, we collected data on the states that have restricted teaching CRT and limited discussions of racism and sexism. EducationWeek compiled data from state legislature websites, which we imported into the same google sheet as our abortion data.

Then, using conditional formatting on Google sheets, we attempted to find correlations between states that have banned abortion and that have limited teaching CRT.

Finally, we imported this data into Flourish in order to visualize our findings on a projection map of the United States.

Below, you will find three maps: the first map demonstrates which states have banned abortion, which states have legalized abortion, and which states do not currently have concrete abortion legislation (which we labeled as TBD, or “to be determined”). The second map demonstrates the spread of CRT restrictions across the United States, using the same key terms as the abortion map. Finally, the third map compiles this data to demonstrate correlations between states that banned abortion and restrict teaching CRT and states that have legalized abortion and have not restricted CRT. You will note that some states have limitations on one but not both of these subjects.

THE DATA: Abortion Bans & Critical Race Theory Restrictions

Abortion Bans in the United States

Drag your mouse over the states to see their position on abortion.

Critical Race Theory Restrictions in the United States

Drag your mouse over the states to see their position on CRT.

Abortions Bans and Critical Race Theory Restrictions in the United States

Drag your mouse over the states to see their positions on abortion and CRT.

ABOUT THE PROCESS: Part Two

Another topic of interest we investigated was the potential correlation between rates of abortion and the teaching of all 22 sexual health topics, as determined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.

We approached this topic with two potential hypotheses: First, it was hypothesized that states that successfully taught all topics of sexual health education would have lower rates of abortion given that high school students are better educated on sexual health, and therefore are more cognizant of safe sex practices, thus theoretically limiting a need for abortion; the second hypothesis was that states with higher purported teaching of sexual health education would have higher rates of abortion, as access to abortion might be less restricted in states that make an effort to educate students about sexual health. Another reason abortion rates might be higher in states with higher rates of teaching sexual health education is that out-of-state residents might travel to more liberal states for abortions.

Nevertheless, neither hypotheses proved correct, as little to no correlation was found between states’ rates of teaching sexual health topics (whether they are high or low) and their number of reported abortions.

Data related to abortion rates was gathered from Statista. We imported data from two of Statista’s studies — the number of legal reported abortions by in-state residents and the number of legal reported abortions by out-of-state residents (both from the most recent year available, 2021) — into a google sheet. Then, we imported data from the CDC’s 2022 School Health Profiles that found the percentage of schools per state that taught all 22 topics of sexual health education into the same google sheet. Finally, we imported our data into Flourish to create scatter plot visualizations.

You will see two graphs below, one related to in-state resident abortions and one related to out-of-state resident abortions.

THE DATA: Reported Abortions and Sex Health Education

Sexual Health Education and In-State Resident Abortions

Drag your mouse over a scatter plot point to see the percentage of schools that teach all 22 sexual health topics and the number of reported legal abortions of in-state residents in that state.

Sexual Health Education and Out-of-State Resident Abortions

Drag your mouse over a scatter plot point to see the percentage of schools that teach all 22 sexual health topics and the number of reported legal abortions of out-of-state residents in that state.