New Report Shows 1,500 Abortion Centers Closed Since 1991, Pro-Life Victory
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
December 8, 2009
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — A new report shows the pro-life movement is winning the abortion battle because nearly 1,500 abortion businesses have closed down since 1991. The report, from Operation Rescue, is an encouragement at a time when the pro-life community is frustrated by the abortion-health care debate in Congress.
The pro-life group says the number of abortion facilities has declined as polls have shown Americans increasingly pro-life.
"We now have an accurate listing of every open abortion clinic in the country," Operation Rescue president Troy Newman told LifeNews.com. "In 1991, it was estimated that there were nearly 2,200 abortion clinics in the country, today there are just 713."
"The pro-life movement has made significant strides exposing and closing abortion clinics and shifting public opinion toward the pro-life position. This has resulted in lower abortion rates," he said.
Newman has plotted the abortion centers on a map and correlated the locations with the data showing abortion rates in various states.
"The information shows a general relationship between access to abortion clinics and the abortion rate in each state. With few exceptions, the states with greater access to abortion clinics have higher abortion rates," he explained.
The new report coincides with the re-launch of Operation Rescue’s campaign called Project Daniel 5:25, named after the Biblical story of Daniel, who was able to read the handwriting on the wall and predict the fall of a wicked kingdom.
"The days of legal abortion in this nation are numbered. Pro-life sentiment continues to gain ground as abortion support slips. Abortion clinics continue to close as demand decreases and as abortionists are increasingly exposed and reported to the authorities by pro-life groups," said Newman.
He told LifeNews.com the new project "encourages those with pro-life views to establish a presence at their local abortion clinic to pray and offer help to abortion-bound women – but also to monitor the clinic for criminal violations and other suspicious acts."
Newman remains convinced that abortion centers can be closed down based on their violations until the day comes that pro-life advocates can protect women and unborn children from abortion by law.
"We have never found an abortion clinic that follows the law. It is up to pro-life activists to serve as the watchdogs of the abortion industry and be the eyes and ears of law enforcement," he said. "We can do more than simply protest abortion clinics. We can document their illegal and dangerous behavior and work within the law to close them down."
"With a pro-life watchdog group at every clinic reporting what they see to the authorities, we will certainly see more abortionists criminally charged and abortion clinics closed," Newman concluded. "We know first-hand from having our offices in a closed former abortion clinic, that when clinics close, lives are saved."
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