The overturning of Roe v. Wade could force more men and women to responsibly use birth control now that they cannot rely on elective abortions to kill their unborn babies.
And abortion data highlighted by Pew Research this month suggests many did use abortions as birth control.
In 2020, the latest data available, about 930,160 unborn babies were legally aborted in the U.S., according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion research group. That equates to about 14.4 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age.
A recent analysis of state abortion data by the Charlotte Lozier Institute found that about 96 percent of unborn babies are aborted for elective reasons (basically birth control).
In many cases, their mothers were pregnant for the first time. But data from Guttmacher and the Centers for Disease Control shows that many others had repeat abortions, sometimes three or more – suggesting they used abortion as birth control.
According to Pew:
For 58% of U.S. women who had induced abortions in 2020, it was the first time they had ever had one, according to the CDC. For nearly a quarter (24%), it was their second abortion. For 10% of women, it was their third, and for 8% it was their fourth or higher. These CDC figures include data from 41 states and New York City (but not the rest of New York).
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Nearly four-in-ten women who had abortions in 2020 (39%) had no previous live births at the time they had an abortion, according to the CDC.
New trends after the overturning of Roe also point to the fact that many have relied on elective abortions – which unnecessarily and violently kill unique, living human beings – as a form of birth control. Numerous news outlets have reported about an increased demand for contraception, vasectomies and other sterilization procedures since the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling in June.
National Right to Life News reported more about it this week:
Full data is not available yet, but multiple sources report that Dobbs has been responsible for a significant uptick in vasectomies, the sterilization procedure that surgically snips the tubes providing sperm to the male reproductive organ. The New York Times (8/12/22) reported that “The weekend after the Supreme Court’s decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade, Google reported that searches for “vasectomy” and “are vasectomies reversible?” surged.”
Planned Parenthoods and others across the country also have reported a rise in requests for contraception and sterilizations.
What’s clear from these reports, wrote NRLC director of education and research Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., is that “a large segment of the population has come to rely on abortion as a backup means of birth control. As long as abortion was available, many couples chose not to alter their behavior.”
The Dobbs decision appears to have changed that. Now, 14 states protect unborn babies by banning abortions and more are fighting in court to do the same. As a result, many men and women cannot rely on easy access to abortion anymore if they do not want children.
Pro-life laws force men and women to behave more responsibly, and past research bears this out. According to Secular Pro-Life, “research has found when abortion is more restricted people are more likely to use contraception, including highly effective contraception.”
And as a result, more babies’ lives will be saved.
