A recent report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) indicates abortion numbers in Arkansas and Oklahoma reduced significantly last year, likely in large part to the highest court in the nation returning abortion decisions to the states in June 2022.
“Abortion totals have plummeted in these states and, as a result, thousands of unborn children are getting a chance at life and not as many women are experiencing the physical and emotional effects of abortion,” according to the July report.
Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a majority decision, overturned Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health ruling after nearly 50 years of nationally-legalized abortion. During that time, an estimated 63 million+ unborn lives were lost to abortion.
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Many states began implementing restrictions after Dobbs. Texas paved the way in 2021 upon enacting a heartbeat bill banning abortion in the state at six weeks, when a pre-born child’s heartbeat can be seen on ultrasound. Although sued over that measure, the state won, and the law remains in effect. Other states began following Texas’ lead, several of which remain in litigation, including Wyoming, Utah, and North Dakota.
CLI report
The study shows the abortion rate in Arkansas in 2022 decreased 48 percent from the previous year, from 3,133 abortions in 2021 to 1,621 the following year. Furthermore, in the 22 years between 2000 to 2020, the state’s abortion rate dropped by more than 70 percent.
Oklahoma experienced an even more dramatic decrease in abortion numbers from 2021 to 2022. The state saw “an all-time high” number of abortions in 2021 – 7,287 – down to 2,160 the next year, “a decrease of 67 percent,” the CLI report said. Additionally, the number of chemical abortions also drastically declined, from 5,009 in 2021, another “all time high,” to 1,255 in 2022. CLI credits the state’s lawmakers, who passed bills to protect unborn lives, including a heartbeat bill, similar to the Texas legislation. In the report, CLI stated, “… the number of chemical abortions decreased by a similar percentage (75 percent) as did the number of [abortion] complications in that period (77 percent).”
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Reports from abortion states
Since that report was released in mid-July, additional state studies have been made public, and several, however, show dramatic increases in abortion numbers.
For example, Kansas experienced a steep increase last year in the total number of abortions performed. Many are done on out-of-state women; in fact, the 2022 state report showed 69 percent of abortions performed in Kansas happened on nonresidents compared to 51 percent the year before. “Chemical abortions also increased markedly, rising by 38 percent from the previous year, making up a majority (60 percent) of all Kansas abortions in 2022,” the report stated.
In total, the abortion rate in Kansas climbed 57 percent from 2021 to 2022.
Illinois and Michigan also reported increases in abortion numbers with their latest reports. Michigan released its 2022 study which showed an increase of less than one percent in total number of abortions compared with 2021, but still an all-time high of nearly 31,000 abortions, with a 1.6 percent increase of use of the abortion pill, which is used in about 54 percent of abortions now. With the availability of these drugs online and through the mail, that percentage is likely to continue climbing.
Illinois, considered an abortion destination like California, New Mexico, and New York, saw a much larger increase in abortion numbers compared to Michigan. The Illinois’ health department 2021 report, released in early August, showed a 13 percent increase in the state’s abortion rate, a 12 percent increase in the total number of abortions, and a 15.1 percent increase in the use of abortion pills to terminate a pregnancy from 2020 to 2021.
Changes to Illinois law seems to also affect how the state’s department of health reports about abortion in the state, CLI’s data stated, “‘in order to protect the privacy and safety of those who receive abortions and abortion providers.”
Need for federal action
While many states seek to protect unborn lives through legislative means, others, like Illinois, California, New York, and Maryland, continue to promote and allow the death of unborn children, often up to birth. Hundreds of thousands of innocent lives will continue to be taken unless federal action is taken, CLI stated.
“While Arkansas’ and Oklahoma’s plummeting abortion totals represent a wonderful new era that Dobbs ushered in, these facts do not negate the need for federal action. Without action by the Congress of the United States, 616,000 lives would still be at risk of being extinguished at the hands of abortionists and reckless online abortion pill companies. Without federal action, states like California, Maryland, New York, and several others will continue to execute the unborn without limit. It is far past time for the federal government to protect life at all stages in the quickest way possible.”
