The Guttmacher Institute’s long-awaited new report hit the Internet this morning and the bottom line is wonderful news (unless you are Guttmacher): There were 926,200 abortions in 2014, the lowest figure of babies lost since 1974!
Compare that with 1990 when there 1.6 million abortions and the incredible impact of your legislative, educational, and political efforts is undeniable. Even Guttmacher concedes “the wave of abortion restrictions passed at the state level over the last five years could also have contributed to the decline by making it more difficult for women to access needed services in highly restrictive states,” according to Rachel Jones and Jenna Jerman.
We will be producing a fuller analysis later today. Here are just a few highlights from the report:
· There were 32,500 fewer abortions in 2014 than in 2013: 926,000 versus 958,200. The latest figure is a 12.5% drop from 2011 when Guttmacher reported 1.06 million abortions.
· “The decrease was spread nationwide; in only six states did abortions increase over the three-year span,” according to David Crary of the Associated Press.
· As you would expect, the abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44) was the lowest since 1973: 14.6/1,000.
· “The highest abortion rates were in the District of Columbia, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Florida,” Crary reports. “The lowest rates were in Wyoming, Mississippi and South Dakota, states that had only one abortion clinic operating in 2014.”
So, how can an abortion number that has dropped by roughly 43% since 1990–where 673,800 fewer unborn babies are dying–not be universally hailed? Leave it to Guttmacher, the Abortion Industry’s think-tank, to find reasons for gloom.
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For one thing, “Restricting access to abortion may force women to delay the procedure or carry unwanted pregnancies to term,” Megan Donovan, Guttmacher senior policy manager told Crary.
Thus the bevy of studies ground out by pro-abortionists to “prove” that for women “denied” the chance to abort their baby, it is just this side of a disaster. NRLC Director of Education, Dr. Randall K. O’Bannon, has debunked that assertion on numerous occasions [See here; and here].
For another, according to Guttmacher, “When unable to access abortion services in the face of restrictive laws, some women may turn to self-induced abortion.” This is even more bogus, as we have explained repeatedly.
As Dr. O’Bannon has explained, if there is an increase, the far more likely explanation is the relentless promotion of self-abortions by the abortion lobby and top researchers.
To the reminder of the world that resides outside the pro-abortion orbit, the Guttmacher report is exceedingly welcomed news. The ongoing reduction in the number of abortions a testimony to your persistence and a reminder that there are many, many babies whose lives we have yet to save.
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. This post originally appeared in at National Right to Life News Today —- an online column on pro-life issues.
