Ohio Report Shows Abortion Numbers Drop 4 Percent in 2008 to All-Time Low
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 23, 2009
Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com) — With a combination of pro-life legislative and educational work to go alongside the efforts of crisis pregnancy centers, a new report shows Ohio abortions on the decline. The state government report indicates abortions dropped 4 percent in 2008 to an all-time low.
The 2008 Report on Induced Abortions in Ohio released today by the Ohio Department of Health shows a significant downward trend in the total number of abortions done in the Buckeye state.
The report shows 29,613 abortions were done in 2008, which is a four percent decrease from the 2007 number of 30,859.
Since 1976, when the Ohio state health department made its first concerted effort to report abortion totals statewide, abortions have decreased by 23%.
"We are winning the fight against those who push abortion as the first and sometimes only choice for women in crisis," Ohio Right to Life executive director Mike Gonidakis told LifeNews.com today.
"While we take great joy that the collective efforts of Ohio’s pro-life community are making significant strides in ending abortions, the total number is staggering," he added.
The report listed a comparative table of abortions between 2008 and 1997 and found abortions declined 35% among women 18 years old and younger and 22% among women 20-24 years old. The report also noted abortions dropped 19% among women 25 years and older.
Abortions dropped among all race categories as well with a 30 percent decline for white women, a 10 percent drop for African-American women, and a 15 percent drop for other race groups.
The report also detailed demographic information regarding women obtaining abortions, Ohio Right to Life noted, and found 18% of women getting abortions were less than 20 years old, 34% were between 20 and 24 years old while 47% were older than 24.
Some 83 percent of women getting abortions in Ohio last year were unmarried while 56 percent were white and 42 percent were black — which is a significantly higher proportion of blacks getting abortions compared with the racial makeup of the state.
"Ohio Right to Life and our life-affirming crisis pregnancy centers help women see that they have real alternatives to abortion," Gonidakis said. "We will continue to promote life-affirming options including adoption and will work to increase the understanding that abortion hurts not only the unborn, but also the women who have them."
Related web sites:
Ohio Right to Life – https://www.ohiolife.org
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