Abortion Doctors Numbers Dwindling We know that abortions are cash cows for doctors, averaging $400 each that's not paid through insurance but rather out of pocket. Why would the number of abortion doctors be dropping? Clearly they all know how to do it ... So why are doctors forgoing this safe, legal, profitable venture? Because the same technology that has made abortion safer, easier, and quicker, has also dramatically changed the relationship between the physician and the fetus. In the early 1970's, when the Supreme Court considered Roe v. Wade , the womb was very much a black box. No one knew for certain what was going on in there. Obstetrical ultrasounds were crude research tools rather than a routine part of prenatal care. The earliest a premature baby could be expected to survive in the outside world was 24 weeks. Obstetricians tended to view pregnancy, especially early pregnancy, as a disease state, and their only patient the mother. Article Here