After years of consecutive decline in the U.S abortion rate, a new government report from the Center for Disease Control indicates that things may be changing for the worse with the release of abortion numbers for 2019.
The new numbers, says pro-life statistician Dr. Michael New, “should both concern and disappoint pro-lifers. Among the 47 states (plus the District of Columbia) in 2018 and 2019, the number of abortions increased by 1.7%. This is the second year in a row that the CDS has reported an abortion increase. Overall, the number of abortions increased in 24 of 27 states that reported data in both 2018 and 2019.”
Abortion activists have been using the COVID-19 pandemic to mainstream the use of abortion pills, and New says that chemical abortions have made up much of the increase, rising “by a whopping 12.5% between 2018 and 2019.” These numbers indicate a trend, with the CDC reporting two straight years of an increase of chemical abortions topping 10%.
Worse still, says New, “as of 2019, 43.7% of all abortions in the U.S. are chemical abortions.” That said, there are important lessons for the pro-life movement contained in the new CDC numbers — lessons that should be encouraging. “Public policy continues to have a significant impact on the incident of abortion,” New told me. “In 2018, West Virginia voted to quit funding abortions through their Medicaid program. Abortions fell 21% in 2017. Also in 2018, Missouri became one of only a small number of U.S. states with one abortion facility. Abortions in the Show-Me State fell by 49% between 2018 and 2019.”
