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Last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released new abortion
data for the year 2016 (yes, that’s how long it takes the government to do things). As you can see in the summary below, overall, the news is good for pro-life advocates.
- Both the number of abortions and the abortion rate fell by
approximately 2 percent since 2015. - The decline was widespread as 33 of the 46 states that reported abortion data by state of occurrence saw their abortion numbers fall.
- The U.S. abortion rate has fallen by 25 percent since 2007.
- The U.S. abortion rate has fallen by approximately 50 percent since 1980.
- A key reason for the long-term decline in the U.S. abortion rate is because a higher percentage of unintended pregnancies are being carried to term. In 1981, almost 54 percent of unintended pregnancies resulted in an abortion. That number fell to 42 percent by 2011. This shows that efforts by pro-lifers to change hearts and minds, pass protective laws, and help women through pregnancy help centers have all been effective.
Some people view the pro-life movement as ineffective because 46 years later, we have not been able to overturn Roe. v Wade. However, the significant decline in the U.S. abortion rate since 1980 nicely shows that pro-lifers can make progress building a culture of life under the Roe v. Wade/Planned Parenthood v. Casey legal regime.
All that said… keep in mind where this data is coming from. It’s from the government, who got it from the abortion industry, who can’t really be trusted with something like this. They say “trust, but never verify.” There are no abortion reporting laws in America. All information presented is by the abortion industry’s own volition, and cannot be verified any other way. States like New York and California don’t report at all – and they are extremely abortion-happy states. All we can say is that we hope it’s true and that the news is good.
Charlotte Lozier Institute offers another good analysis here.
Abortion and the Black Community
Abortion has always disproportionately affected minority communities (just as Planned Parenthood’s racist founder intended). Most abortion facilities are built in poor/minority neighborhoods and advertising is heavily directed at them.
But this new report bodes well for them, too. While black women still have the highest abortion rate by far (nearly half of pregnancies end in abortion in many place), since 2007, their abortion rate has decreased 29%.
Important data points included:
- Black women had the highest abortion rate (25.1 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years) and ratio (401 abortions per 1,000 live births).
- For women in the three largest race/ethnicity groups (black, white, & Hispanic), abortion rates decreased both from 2007 to 2011 and from 2012 to 2016, although the decreases were greater during the later period.
- From 2007 to 2011, the abortion rates decreased 11% for black women (from 36.7 to 32.5 abortions per 1,000).
- By contrast, from 2012 to 2016, the abortion rates decreased 13% for black women (from 30.2 to 26.2 abortions per 1,000).
- Abortion ratios also decreased from 2007 to 2016; for black women, the ratio decreased 20% (from 517 abortions per 1,000 live births in 2007 to 416 in 2016).
The pro-life movement, especially our African American leaders, must continue to reach out to our communities who are so targeted by the abortion industry. Women need to know there’s love and support when facing an unplanned pregnancy, regardless of income, marital status, or any other external factor.
America itself has been below replacement rate (not enough babies born to maintain the population) since 1971. And African Americans are a microcosm of that trend as our population dips below replacement rate in many cities. A society that tells its poor citizens that they should kill their offspring at their own expense (physically & psychologically) is a hurting society.
Fortunately, these numbers are optimistic (hopefully, assuming they’re anywhere near correct). These dropping abortion rates are evidence that the tide is turning for life.
Need help bringing the pro-life message to your minority community and/or school? Contact me at [email protected].
