(LifeSiteNews) — Minnesota abortion facilities omitted the gestational age for nearly 400 babies killed through abortion, a fact that is “very concerning” to a state pro-life leader. However, the true number could be closer to 1,000 babies.
The state, led by pro-abortion, scandal-plagued Governor Tim Walz, recently released abortion data for 2024. The failed vice presidential nominee announced recently he would not seek re-election for governor, following revelations of rampant welfare fraud.
Due to a state law signed by the leftist governor, Minnesota now reports abortion data a full year late. It also eliminated the requirement to track babies born-alive through abortion, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.
The data show abortionists killed around 13,000 babies in 2024, continuing an increase in abortions in the state. However, at least one facility did not report its numbers.
Those that did report data failed to include the gestational age for almost 400 babies, raising concerns about late-term abortions, according to Cathy Blaeser, co-executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. The group is the Minnesota affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee.
This is a “sharp increase” in missing data, Blaeser told LifeSiteNews via phone interview on Monday.
“400 is a sharp, sharp increase in that number and it is very concerning that that may be hiding later term abortions that abortionists don’t want to admit to the public because they know that they don’t have the public support on late-term abortions on healthy babies,” Blaeser said.
Another reason for the missing data is that there are no longer repercussions for failure to report abortion statistics.
One facility, the Robbinsdale Clinic, closed up at the end of 2024 and simply decided not to turn in any reports, Blaeser said. This facility, which killed 726 babies in 2023, likely killed a similar amount in 2024, she said. This means the state possibly has no data for at least 1,000 babies.
Abortions have steadily increased in the past several years, and the state is attracting more out-of-state residents to come to Minnesota to kill their babies. The increase in abortions is an expected result of Gov. Walz’ pro-abortion agenda, Blaeser told LifeSiteNews.
“Minnesota’s statute now allows for abortion up to birth throughout all nine months the pregnancy for any reason and for no reason paid for by our tax dollars,” she said.
Walz and Minnesota legislators also stopped funding pregnancy resource centers and no longer require women to be provided information about other options.
“They basically created a situation where the state was paying for abortion on demand throughout all nine months of pregnancy and not funding any other options or providing information to women about other options that were out there for them,” Blaeser said during the phone interview.
LifeSiteNews contacted the governor’s press office at its listed media contact on Monday, asking if it found the increase in abortions a positive development or concerning. However, the office sent back an automated message saying the press inbox was not “regularly monitored.” LifeSiteNews called the governor’s office around 11 am on Monday, but no one answered or responded to a voicemail.
Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life would like to see the reporting requirements reinstated along with other changes, in order to decrease abortions. Blaeser said the delay in reporting requirements is intended to make it harder for policymakers to respond, since they may be acting on data that is 18 months old by the time the legislative session starts.
She also said that the state eliminated important information from the reports, including the number of previous abortions and the reasons why women chose to kill their babies.
Repeat abortions, Blaeser said, can indicate sex trafficking.
Pro-life groups are also hindered by not knowing why women are choosing abortions, she said.
“In the abortion reporting we used to track the reason that women were seeking abortions and we tracked information like how many prior abortions have they had,” she said. “Checking the reason helps us to actually answer the cries for help that women have.”
Life-affirming options should be promoted
The data helps pro-life groups meet women where they are at, Blaeser said.
“Many women are facing very difficult pregnancies and if we can know why they’re seeking those abortions and provide the assistance that they really need,” she said.
“We could bring down the abortion numbers and help women, which is the goal,” she said. “To help women to be able to choose what they want to choose, not choose what they feel like they you have to choose.”
The pro-life leader said pregnancy resource centers should once again be able to receive support and that women should be given information about life-affirming options.
The right-to-know law “probably [saved] about 2,500 babies a year because that’s the number of women who received information that did not return for the abortion,” Blaeser said.