(ZENIT News / Washington, 01.29.2024).- More than a year after the historic ruling on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, which overturned Roe v. Wade, states have begun releasing revealing data on how this change has impacted efforts to protect unborn babies.
So far, 32 states have reported 424,242 legal abortions in 2022, marking an estimated decrease of 31,951 abortions compared to 2021. This set encompasses various state laws that protect life from conception, upon detecting a heartbeat, or after the first trimester.
Despite this decline, some states have enacted new laws promoting publicly funded abortion and creating other legal protections to make it more accessible.
States in favor of baby killing, such as California, New Mexico, and New York, which often attract women from other states for abortions, have not yet reported 2022 totals. However, states like Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, and Washington have provided valuable information on the impact of interstate travel on abortion statistics.
The 2022 data show an 8% decrease in the abortion rate in the 32 states. This suggests that fewer women chose abortion in those states, even with the option to travel elsewhere to obtain it.
These initial findings coincide with a study by the Institute of Labor Economics that revealed states with pro-life laws experienced an increase of 32,000 births due to the impact of such laws.
As expected, in every state that implemented heartbeat or conception laws, abortions decreased. In contrast, in states that allowed abortion up to 15 weeks or later, abortions increased, with Vermont being the only exception, reporting a decrease in total abortions, as it allows abortions at any stage of pregnancy.
Texas leads with the most significant decrease, reporting 33,572 fewer abortions, followed by nine other states reporting a reduction of 1,500 abortions or more.
Despite Florida implementing a 15-week limit in July 2022, abortions increased by 2,700. This is likely because Alabama, Georgia, and other southern states applied much more protective laws.
The weakness of the 15-week limit law led Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to sign the Heartbeat Protection Act in 2023.
Kansas, despite its history of passing pro-life laws, still allows abortions up to 22 weeks and experienced an increase of over 4,000 abortions, largely driven by residents from Oklahoma and Texas traveling to Kansas. This demonstrates the direct impact that a constitutional right to abortion can have on a state, preventing it from passing strong laws to protect the unborn.
Contrary to media narratives, state reports for 2022 also highlight the importance of pro-life laws in protecting the health of both unborn children and their mothers.
Pennsylvania, which allows abortion up to 24 weeks, reported 469 abortion-related complications, a 45% increase from 2021. Most of these complications were related to fetal tissue remnants in the uterus after incomplete abortions, more common in chemical abortions.
In contrast, Arizona, which had a pro-life governor in 2022 seeking to implement new pro-life laws after Roe v. Wade’s fall, experienced a significant decrease in the number of abortions due to maternal medical conditions. Arizona also reported only eight abortion complications compared to the 400-plus reported in Pennsylvania.
Despite the success of pro-life laws in reducing abortions in certain states, there are obstacles for these laws to effectively save unborn lives and protect women’s health.
The main challenge is the lack of law enforcement by the Biden administration and the support of pro-abortion activist governors. The Biden administration is carrying out illegal abortions in Department of Veterans Affairs facilities in pro-life states and moving service members across the country to perform elective abortions.
Pro-abortion states are also openly challenging federal and state laws by mailing abortion pills to pro-life states and providing legal cover for dubious abortionists.
Fortunately, there are two major cases pending in the U.S. Supreme Court that can address these issues. The first will determine whether the Food and Drug Administration can prioritize policy over science and allow women to receive dangerous abortion pills by mail without seeing a doctor for an ultrasound or health assessment.
The other case involves an attempt by the Biden administration to use an old law that simply requires hospitals to examine all patients presenting in an emergency room to force pro-life states to perform unnecessary abortions. Fortunately, the law makes it clear that pregnant women and their unborn children must be examined and, therefore, cannot be used as a mandate for supposedly life-saving abortions.
State abortion data demonstrate that pro-life laws work, and the abortion industry is understanding this. Now is the critical time to ensure the promise of the Dobbs decision is fully fulfilled by enforcing existing federal laws that prohibit mail-order abortions.
