Decline to 862,300 in 2017
Each and every three years (or so) when the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute issues its latest abortion numbers, it is important for us to remember what they choose not to report; how internally [in]coherent its observations are; and what is the real agenda of Planned Parenthood’s former “special affiliate.”
The good news, released today, is unabashedly good and is a testimonial to your efforts to enact commonsense abortion limitations in state after state and create a Culture of Life. Under “Findings,” we read
The total number of abortions, the abortion rate and the abortion ratio in the United States all declined between 2014 and 2017. In 2017, 862,320 abortions were provided in clinical settings, a 7% decline from 2014. The 2017 abortion rate of 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 represented an 8% decline from 2014. Just under one in five pregnancies (births and abortions), 18.4%, ended in abortion in 2017.
Since Guttmacher despises any limitation on the “right to abortion,” its reports always and forever pooh-pooh the impact of such laws. As an aside, which I will address later this week, if (supposedly)there is essentially no difference in the abortion numbers between those states that enact protective laws and those that don’t, why does the Abortion Industry and its in-house think tank, oppose them with every corpuscle in their corporate bodies?
With that as a preface, let me offer some highlights from “Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2017,” by Rachel K. Jones, Elizabeth Witwer, and Jenna Jerman.
• There was a 7% drop in the number of abortions between 2014 (926,000) and 2017 (862,000). No number of abortions above zero is acceptable, but this is a tremendous victory for unborn children. In 1990 the number was an astronomical 1. 6 million.
• The abortion rate (the number of women per thousand ages 15-44 who abort ) is way down—13.5—the lowest since Roe v. Wade was decided. “The abortion rate is now less than half what it was in 1990,” as the AP’s David Crary noted.
• As everyone who follows the issue already knew there are many more “medication” abortions—chemically-induced abortions. In 2014, medication abortions accounted for 29% of all abortions. In 2017 the figure was 39%, an increase of almost exactly a third.
• Not in the report, but vitally important to remember about Guttmacher’s former patron, Planned Parenthood. Even as we receive the good news, according to PPFA’s latest annual report, it aborted 332,757 babies in 2018 (11,373 more dead babies than the year before). For its efforts PPFA reaped the highest revenues yet: $1.665.1 billion (with a “b”).
• There is always talk in these reports about the number of abortion clinics. In its 2014 report, Guttmacher wrote, “The number of clinics providing abortions declined 6% between 2011 and 2014.” In its new report, we learn “In 2017, 808 clinic facilities provided abortions, a 2% increase from 2014.”
Tucked in the report is this observation: “The number of specialized abortion clinics—facilities where half or more of patients received abortion care—declined by 7%, from 272 in 2014 to 253 in 2017. The number of nonspecialized clinics increased by 7% over the same period, from 517 to 555.”
But as the report notes, “Similarly, we found some amount of turnover among clinics from one study period to the next, and the number of facilities providing abortion care is constantly changing.” Moreover, as Planned Parenthood continues to build abortion clinics just slightly smaller than the Taj Mahal, they don’t need as many clinics—plus they can make more money.
• “Self-managed abortions” [“self-induction”] took up considerable space. What an innocuous phrase, conjuring up images of Do-It-Yourself home improvements made possible by a quick trip to Home Depot. “Our analysis found an increase in the proportion of nonhospital facilities that had treated at least one patient for a missed or failed abortion due to self-induction, from 12% in 2014 to 15–18% in 2017.”
The report is remarkably sanguine about a quarter to one-half increase in the number of “people” (aka women) who come to abortion clinics after their self-managed/ self-induced abortions go terribly awry.
Near the end, the authors also write
In addition, the increased availability of highly effective and affordable abortion pills via the internet has the potential to substantially increase access to abortion, for which future surveillance efforts will need to account. It will also be important to ensure that policies and funding promote access to all methods of abortion, so that people seeking this care are able to obtain the care that is best for them.
Think about that for a second. The mouthpiece for the Abortion Industry says not a word about the dangers of women ordering abortion pills over the Web and self-aborting; or obtaining their pills via telemedicine where she takes the second pill at home to deliver a dead baby by herself!
More tomorrow. Remember the headline from the Associated Press: “Number of abortions in US falls to lowest since 1973.”
Daniel Miller is responsible for nearly all of National Right to Life News' political writing.
With the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, Daniel Miller developed a deep obsession with U.S. politics that has never let go of the political scientist. Whether it's the election of Joe Biden, the midterm elections in Congress, the abortion rights debate in the Supreme Court or the mudslinging in the primaries - Daniel Miller is happy to stay up late for you.
Daniel was born and raised in New York. After living in China, working for a news agency and another stint at a major news network, he now lives in Arizona with his two daughters.
