(LifeSiteNews) — New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows abortions dropped 2 percent the year the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade.
“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 on Nov. 27. “From 2013 to 2022, the number of abortions decreased 5%, the rate decreased 10%, and the ratio increased 1%.”
In June 2022, the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in a case called Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Pro-life social scientist Michael New said the data is a positive sign that laws against abortion can save lives.
“The main takeaway is that many states’ post-Dobbs policy choices significantly affected the incidence of abortion,” he wrote in an analysis for National Review.
“There were 15 states whose Heartbeat Acts or abortion bans were in effect for more than a month. Abortions fell in all 15 of these states. Conversely, abortion numbers increased in 26 of the other 31 states that reported abortion data to the CDC,” the Catholic University of America professor wrote.
However, some states did see an increase in out-of-state abortions, such as New Mexico and Kansas, Professor New pointed out in his article.
The data does not include California, Maryland, New Hampshire, and New Jersey. Furthermore, more than 600,000 preborn babies were still killed through legal abortion in 2022.
Professor New said that while abortions “have not fallen as quickly as pro-lifers had hoped,” this report, and birth data from states with protections for preborn babies, “provide powerful evidence that newly enacted pro-life laws are preventing abortions and saving lives.”
The CDC data also shows that most abortions occur before 13 weeks. Some political leaders and pro-life groups have advocated for a federal prohibition on abortion around 15 weeks.
However, about 93 percent of abortions occurred before 13 weeks, according to the CDC. This means a federal abortion ban at 15 weeks could save at least 40,000 lives from abortion, but more than 500,000 babies would still be killed.
Most abortions were committed on unmarried women, comprising 87.7 percent, according to the CDC. “Among the 48 areas that reported abortion numbers by women’s age for 2022, women in their 20s accounted for more than half of abortions,” the health agency also found.
Effect of laws against abortion remains in dispute
Some states either began to enforce laws against abortion that were already on the books or passed new protections for preborn babies after the Dobbs decision.
Data from those states suggest the restrictions are reducing abortion. For example, abortions reportedly dropped 40 percent in Iowa, following the implementation of the state’s heartbeat law, as LifeSiteNews recently reported.
Abortions dropped 98 percent in Indiana, as recently reported by LifeSiteNews. The state generally bans abortions, although there are exceptions for rape, incest, and alleged “health” issues.
However, the widespread availability of abortion drugs, due to President Joe Biden’s administration relaxing restrictions, may undermine the effectiveness of pro-life laws.
Since the Supreme Court decision, various reports have come out suggesting different effects of the decision on abortions and birth rates. One study, for example, suggested the availability of abortion drugs had canceled out pro-life laws, though that thesis has been challenged. A LifeSiteNews analysis found lives have been saved from laws against abortion. Furthermore, births have risen in places like Texas, where abortion is restricted, suggesting lives are being saved.
An April 2023 report from the Society for Family Planning found abortions had dropped around 5,400 per month since the Supreme Court decision.