After years of declining abortions in Michigan, abortions have increased in each oft he last two years. A new report Right to Life of Michigan released indicates abortions increased almost 6 percent in 2014 after going up in 2013. But the good news is abortions are still down significantly from their record highs in the late 1980s.
RLM indicated data released by the Michigan Department of Community Health showed an increase in the number of reported abortions performed in 2014. A total of 27,629 induced abortions were reported in Michigan in 2014, which was a 5.8 percent increase from the total of 26,120 reported in 2013 but a 43.7 percent decrease since 1987 (the year with the largest number of induced abortions).
The pro-life group said the number of abortions using the abortion pill (mifepristone or RU 486) are up as well. In 2014, 6,935 chemical abortions were done on unborn babies which is up from the 5,103 committed in 2013.
“Michigan residents received 95.3 percent of the induced abortions that occurred in Michigan in 2014. The data shows an increase in the number of women from other states coming to Michigan for abortions; in 2013 there were 708 non-Michigan residents who had abortions and in 2014 that number increased to 1,317,” Right to Life of Michigan said. “The trend of declining abortions committed on girls under the age of 18 continued. In 1990, 3,820 abortions on minors were reported. The reported figure for 2014 is 917. This represents a 76 percent decrease since 1990.”
The group continued: “No matter what the procedure or where the mothers come from to have an abortion, we are deeply saddened by the loss of precious lives. While the overall trend of decreasing abortions is encouraging, this year’s increase and the annual overall numbers serve as a reminder that our prolife efforts must continue – lives depend on us.”
Last year, RLM explained why it thought abortions increased:
A law passed in 2012 requiring abortion clinics to be licensed caused 5 abortion clinics to close in the early months of 2013. The location of those closed clinics corresponds with the four counties (Muskegon, Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland) that showed substantial increases in abortions, accounting for the increase in the number of reported abortions.
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Those closed abortion businesses were suspected of violating the state reporting law. As those abortion businesses closed, their clients went to other abortion businesses; previously unreported abortions may be reported now. There was also a shocking 44.4 percent increase in late-term abortions (after 20 weeks), which may be attributed to better reporting and an influx of women from Ohio after abortion businesses in Toledo closed.
In Muskegon, Right to Life of Michigan identified anomalies in past abortion data. The sole abortion business in Muskegon was not reporting abortions for two years prior to being shut down for dangerous conditions. It is suspected that women from Muskegon County are now traveling to other abortion businesses that follow state reporting laws. Metro Detroit may be experiencing something similar, four clinics from that area closed in 2013 following passage of the Prolife Omnibus Act (PA 499).
The numbers could reflect an actual increase in abortions, possibly due to the especially difficult economic times Detroit is facing as the city undergoes bankruptcy. About 29 percent of the 2013 increase was reported in Detroit, despite the city having only 7 percent of the state’s population. Abortion continues to disproportionately devastate the black community, with more than 50 percent of all abortions being performed on black women, even though they are only 16 percent of the female population. Recent media coverage showing Detroit’s maternal death rate at triple the national rate proves that abortion fails to improve women’s health.
Links:
Michigan Department of Community Health 2014 – Abortions Reported in Michigan
Michigan Department of Community Health 2014 – Abortions by County of Residence
