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July 15, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – A recently published U.S. study has found that the farther a woman lives from an abortion center the less likely she is, statistically, to abort her child.
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study, which collected abortion data from 1,948 counties, found that increases in median travel distance to the nearest abortion center were associated with significant reductions in median abortion rate, measured per county.
For every 1000 female residents of reproductive age a median rate of 21.1 abortions were recorded for a median travel distance of less than five miles to the nearest abortion center. This fell to 12.2 abortions for median distances of five to fifteen miles, and further dropped to 3.9 abortions for distances of 120 miles or more.
“Some people argue that if Roe v. Wade is overturned and some states protect preborn children – women will simply obtain abortions in other states where the laws are more permissive. However, this study shows that the travel involved with heading to another state will dissuade some women from obtaining abortions,” said Dr. Michael New, a research scholar who studied Political Science and Statistics at Stanford University.
In 2019, The Guttmacher Institute shared U.S. data from 2014 reporting that 65 percent of women seeking abortions traveled less than 25 miles one-way for their abortion, 17 percent traveled 25 to 49 miles, and 18 percent traveled more than 50 miles away for their abortion.
The JAMA study authors cite several other regional studies which they claim are “consistent” with their own study findings, “suggesting this phenomenon is robust to differing analytic approaches.”
One study by the Institute of Labor Economics analyzed the impact of abortion access on abortion rates using “cross-county variation in access to abortion” generated by Texas legislation that “significantly reduced funding for family planning services and increased restrictions on abortion clinic operations.”
The study found that “[i]n-state abortions fell 20% and births rose 3% in counties that no longer had an abortion provider within 50 miles.” The authors acknowledged that in-state abortion numbers “may not capture the total effect on abortions” because of potential out-of-state or self-administered abortions. They described the three percent birth increase as “more informative of the total effect on fertility-related behaviors.”
PETITION UPDATE (9/26/2020):
With President Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, we are closer than we have been in decades to seeing Roe vs. Wade overturned.
We now encourage the Senate to confirm Barrett as the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
Judge Barrett has a fantastic track recond on sanctity of life issues, has seven children, and is a devout believer. She is the perfect remedy for Ruth Bader Ginsburg's radical pro-abortionism.
Please READ the full story here: 'BREAKING: Trump nominates Catholic mom of 7 Judge Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court'
And then, please SIGN this petition telling the High Court that it's now time to end the activist Roe vs. Wade judgment. Thank you!
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PETITION UPDATE (6/29/2020):
In a decision which has imperiled more abortion-minded women, sentenced more preborn to death, and upset pro-lifers across the nation,the United States Supreme Court decided 5-4 to strike down a Louisiana law requiring basic medical precautions in the event of abortion complications, with Chief Justice John Roberts reversing his own past decision to uphold a similar Texas law.
Liberal Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion, which held that the Louisiana law was unconstitutional for the simple fact that it was “almost word-for-word identical” to the Texas one the court already struck down in 2016.
In his concurring opinion, Chief Justice Roberts acknowledged that he had “joined the dissent in Whole Woman’s Health and continue to believe that the case was wrongly decided. The question today however is not whether Whole Woman’s Health was right or wrong, but whether to adhere to it in deciding the present case.”
We call on the Supreme Court to stop supporting the culture of death and overturn Roe vs Wade, now.
PETITION UPDATE (1/20/2020):
Hundreds of thousands of people will gather in Washington, D.C., this coming Friday, January 24th, for the March for Life. They will be praying for an end to Roe vs Wade, as the Supreme Court will hear a crucial, abortion-related case later this year in March. United our voices can change the course of history. Sign this petition TODAY! (LEARN MORE BELOW)
PETITION UPDATE (1/3/2020):
In advance of the Supreme Court's hearing arguments in an important abortion case later this year in March, 207 U.S. Senators and Representatives have signed amicus briefs supporting a Louisiana law requiring abortionists to have admitting privileges at a hospital nearby an abortion center.
Some of these supporting briefs also suggest that now is the time to reconsider Roe vs Wade as sound law.
Please SIGN this petition, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Roe vs Wade.
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More than 60 million Americans have been slaughtered in their mother's wombs as a result of Roe v. Wade. This activist, unconstitutional ruling in 1973 has left countless women emotionally and psychologically scarred.
It was believed by many that Roe would be overturned in 1992 with Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Despite having eight Republican-appointed judges at the time, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to uphold it.
Since then, major gains have been made in the fight for life, and many lives have been saved.
However, Roe v. Wade remains the law of the land, leaving millions of defenseless pre-born children vulnerable to murder.
According to a 2016 study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35% of aborted babies are African American, despite black women only making up six percent of the U.S. population. 19% of aborted babies are Hispanic.
We thus again call on the court to do everything they can to end Roe vs Wade.
Now is the time for pro-lifers to join together and ensure that all of God's children have a right to life.
Roe v. Wade must come to an end!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/supreme-court-strikes-down-louisiana-abortion-regulations
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/over-200-congressmen-as-us-supreme-court-to-reconsider-roe-v-wade
The study also found that “births increased 1% and contraceptive purchases rose 8% in counties without a publicly-funded family planning clinic within 25 miles.”
The JAMA study attempts to address some of its limitations, such as its assumption that women would travel to the nearest abortion center, acknowledging that factors such as financial limitations may impact the choice of an abortion facility. It notes that a national survey showed that 80 percent of women who aborted their children “went to the nearest facility or to one that was within 15 miles of the nearest facility.”
The authors of the study also sought to address the possibility of “reverse causality” – that is, a scenario where the presence of abortion facilities are an indication of abortion demand – by citing a U.S. study, published in December 2020, that “showed that increased distance to abortion providers accounted for their observed declines in the abortion rate.”
The JAMA study authors posed state laws and regulations as an explanation for lack of abortion facilities in a given location, rather than lack of demand.