(LifeSiteNews) — We have been hearing much about the rising U.S. abortion rate in the press over the past two years, with abortion activists insisting that this proves that pro-life laws fail and that the Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturning Roe v. Wade was a pyrrhic victory for the pro-life movement.
With the rise of the abortion pill as the primary method of killing unborn babies – up to 60 percent of the U.S. total, turning living rooms and bathrooms into back allies – as well as abortion referendums overturning pro-life laws in a dozen states, it is difficult to get an accurate picture of the lay of the land.
Indeed, even many pro-lifers have begun to fear that policy-making and judicial nominations are a failed strategy for the movement.
READ: Abortions dropped 2% the year Roe v. Wade was overturned: CDC report
However, new data from the Centers for Disease Control published on November 27 sheds some light on the impact of both Dobbs and pro-life laws. “Among 47 reporting areas with data each year during 2013–2022, from 2021 to 2022, the number of abortions decreased 2%, the abortion rate decreased 3%, and the abortion ratio decreased 2%,” the CDC reported.
“From 2013 to 2022, the number of abortions decreased 5%, the rate decreased 10%, and the ratio increased 1%.” In short, the narrative being pushed by abortion activists throughout the election and during state-wide referendums is, predictably, untrue.
Dr. Michael New, an expert on abortion policy and a statistician with the Charlotte Lozier Institute and a visiting professor at the Catholic University of America, broke down what this new data means for the pro-life movement in an interview with LifeSiteNews.
Jonathon Van Maren: What is the key take-way from this new CDC data?
Dr. Michael New: This the first time that the CDC has released post-Dobbs abortion data, and the key takeaway is that the Dobbs decision halted the upward trend in the incidence of abortion.
Data from both the CDC and Guttmacher both show increasing abortion numbers since 2017. However, this new CDC data found that in 2022, the number of abortions fell by 3 percent and the U.S. abortion rate fell by 2 percent. Another key takeaway is that public policy choices matter. In the aftermath of the Dobbs decision 15 states were enforcing either an abortion ban or a heartbeat law for more than a month. This new CDC data shows that abortions fell in all 15 of these states. Conversely, abortions increased in 26 of the 31 other states for which the CDC released data.
JVM: Does this data debunk any abortion activist narratives that we saw during the last election?
New: Abortion activists always try to downplay the impact of pro-life laws. They frequently cite analyses by the #WeCount project of the Society of Family Planning to try to argue that abortion numbers have increased since Dobbs. This data provides solid evidence that abortions fell after the Dobbs decision. This shows that the pro-life strategy of nominating conservative constitutionalist judges at the federal level and passing strong pro-life laws at the state level is paying dividends.
JVM: Do state-level pro-life laws reduce abortions?
New: Yes, state pro-life laws do reduce abortions. In the years before Dobbs, there was a body of research which showed a variety of incremental pro-life laws including limits on Medicaid funding of abortions, parental involvement laws, and properly designed informed consent laws all reduce abortion rates. In recent years, birth data from Texas and other states show that fewer women are obtaining abortions and more pregnancies are being carried to term as a result of strong pro-life laws. This new CDC report adds to the body of research which shows that pro-life laws save lives.
READ: Even with Trump as president, we must remain on guard against the anti-life agenda
JVM: What is the downside to the CDC’s new report?
New: The downside is that federal abortion reporting standards are still weak. California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey all failed to report 2022 abortion data to the CDC. Similarly, not every state reports demographic data on the women who are obtaining abortions. Strong pro-life appointees in the Department of Health and Human Services could potentially do a great deal to strengthen federal abortion reporting standards
JVM: What should pro-lifers take from this report, strategically speaking?
New: First, the fraction of all abortions that are chemical abortions continues to increase. Between 2021 and 2022, the fraction of all abortions that were chemical abortions increased from 56.0 percent to 57.6 percent. One reason for this increase is that FDA policies regarding chemical abortions have become more permissive.
In 2016, the FDA reduced the number of in-person visits to obtain a chemical abortion from three to one and extended the gestational age at which pregnant women could obtain chemical abortions from 7 weeks to 10 weeks. Additionally, the Biden administration FDA unwisely continued the COVID-era policy of allowing women to obtain chemical abortions without an in-person medical exam. Pro-life FDA appointees could put some much needed safeguards back in place and reduce the number of chemical abortions.
Second, while abortions fell in the aftermath of Dobbs, they probably did not fall as much as pro-lifers had hoped. While the strong pro-life laws passed after Dobbs have saved thousands of lives, pro-lifers still have plenty of work to do. We need to pass strong pro-life laws in states where the preborn are not legally protected. We need to dissuade women living in states with pro-life laws from obtaining abortions in other states. We need to find legal strategies to halt the shipment of chemical abortion drugs through the mail.
Everywhere pro-lifers need to step up our educational, service, and legislative efforts.
