“While it looks like, in the long-term, abortions are definitely down, there may be a small increase in the number, rate, and ratio of abortions since the CDC’s last full surveillance report in 2016,” said Randall K. O’Bannon, Ph.D., Director of Education and Research for National Right to Life.
These statistics, including the increase, are somewhat misleading. California, New Hampshire, and Maryland refuse to report abortion data to the federal government. DC began reporting abortion statistics to the CDC, but because the District had not reported abortion numbers for 2016 those numbers are not included in this year's report.
The CDC reported that “the total number and rate of reported abortions increased by 1%, and the abortion ratio increased by 2%.” compared to numbers reported in 2017. The CDC also wrote that in 2016, revised FDA guidelines allowed the use of the abortion drug mifepristone as late as 10 weeks in pregnancy. The CDC report noted a 9% increase in the use of mifepristone.
“The use of the chemical abortion method using mifepristone appears to be on the rise in many states, now accounting for about 40% of all abortions in states where the numbers were measured by the CDC,” said Dr. O’Bannon. “The number of chemical abortions might be lower if women were told the truth about the deaths and injuries associated with chemical abortion methods. Instead, the abortion industry peddles lies about the ease of the method and pushes for fewer protections for women undergoing a chemical abortion.”
Live Action News did an analysis of the CDC report which compared the abortion rates of women from different demographics. If you are interested in reading that article, click here.
