As 2023 fades, it’s important to look back at various abortion trends that have come to light in the past year. Ine one case a report from the Guttmacher Institute, formerly the research arm for Planned Parenthood, shows a spike in abortion rates across the United States, but questions remain as to whether it tells the whole story.
Released in September, the report revealed a significant increase in abortions since 2020, raising red flags. It’s important to note this marks a clear reversal of the previous 30-year trend of abortions being less frequent.
American Life League's Director of STOPP International Ed Martin expressed deep concern, emphasizing the urgent need for action from state governments.
“To stop the killing of preborn children through abortion, leadership is needed at every level of government,” Martin said, “States should not be in the business of legitimizing the killing of innocent children.”
“Women seeking abortion need affirmation in their ability to carry their baby to term, not options on when and where to kill them,” said Martin. “Would we propose regulating the deaths in the gas chamber? Of course not, so why the babies?”
The report reveals that almost every state saw a rise. But experts like Martin are troubled by the report's limitations. It only includes abortions reported by clinics, hospitals, and doctors' offices —excluding those terminations caused by using the abortion pill.
According to the data, more than 52 percent of all abortions are conducted through the pill. Some estimates of the rate for chemical abortion in the U.S. are much higher.
Such a glaring omission suggests that the actual figures could be much higher, painting a grimmer picture. Furthermore, the report focused primarily on states without stringent abortion regulations, revealing these increases are happening even with pro-life laws on the books.
There’s more.
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Another noteworthy aspect of the report is the utter lack of tracking in states with established abortion regulations and bans. Despite concrete evidence of abortions happening in these states (despite the legal restrictions) the research primarily concentrated on states bordering those with existing abortion laws.
Notably, states like New Mexico, Wyoming, Kansas, and Illinois saw increases in abortion rates by 220%, 202%, 114%, and 69%, respectively.
Judie Brown, president of the American Life League, criticized Planned Parenthood's part in those numbers, highlighting its historical connections to racism.
“Skyrocketing abortion numbers are no surprise,” Brown observed.
“The world, the media, the political class, popular culture, the lovers of money, and others fan the flames of fear and confusion leading many young women to embrace a horror they have no real concept of, or may never recover from, no matter how many years pass,” said Brown. “As more children die, the farther and farther many on this planet drift from their own humanity.”
Tweet This: A Guttmacher Institute on U.S. abortions since 2020 shows an increase and all but ignores "self-managed" chemical abortions
More recent events indicate a continued uphill battle in the work of decreasing abortion numbers.
Ohio’s Issue 1 passed on November 7, which embedded abortion as a constitutional right within the state.
An attempt to raise the majority needed for constitutional amendments to 60% (also titled Issue 1) failed in August, which boosted November’s Issue 1 to victory.
The state will now establish a constitutional right to reproductive decisions, including abortion, and permit restrictions after fetal viability except when necessary for the pregnant patient's life or health.
Critics had argued that the wording of the issue was ambiguous, giving abortion providers financial incentives to determine fetal viability as negative, while broad interpretations of "health" exceptions could allow abortions at any gestational age for emotional reasons.
That’s not all.
Additionally, many are worried that the passage could enable minors to undergo abortions without notifying their parents or guardians. The initiative's unclear language raises fears that women and girls of any age could access abortions up to birth for various reasons, placing Ohio among the few jurisdictions without gestational limits on abortion.
Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, said the numbers reflect at least a decade’s worth of an intentional shift by the abortion industry to the more lucrative abortion pill regimen.
“Sadly, we know that Guttmacher's Big Abortion friends are also actively working hard to deny women a last chance to choose life through Abortion Pill Reversal,” Godsey said. “And Big Abortion friends in the White House have not only eliminated common sense protections for women but leveraged U.S. taxpayer resources to actively promote abortion, even into Life States who want better than abortion for their residents."
Stay tuned to Pregnancy Help News for continued reporting on abortion trends and related stories.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
