Greater Columbus Right to Life (GCRTL) announced Tuesday that abortions in the central Ohio area had dropped nearly 25% from 2017 to 2018. “Breaking News: unprecedented decline in abortions performed in Central Ohio. Abortions performed fall from 4844 in 2017 to 3706 in 2018, nearly a 25% reduction,” the group declared on Facebook.
The news was shared shortly before noon. In the press release, GCRTL wrote, “If you have not heard, Ohio’s abortion statistics report was issued today. Each fall, Ohio’s Department of Health [ODH] issues abortion statistics for the year prior. The statistics look at various demographic information like where the abortion was performed and where the mother who had the abortion resides.”
“Ohio law [Ohio Revised Code 3701.79] requires certain information about induced abortions to be reported to the Ohio Department of Health by the physician who performed the abortion,” states the ODH website. They provide a link to download the data.
Central Ohio is not the only place to see abortion numbers declining. The pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute declared, “The U.S. Abortion Rate Continues to Drop: Once Again, State Abortion Restrictions Are Not the Main Driver,” in an article from September 18th.
Although Guttmacher concedes pro-life laws are not the chief reason for the decline, they do state, “Understanding the factors driving the decline in the abortion rate has important policy implications. However, attempts to reduce abortion through coercive restrictions are a direct violation of individuals’ dignity, bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom.” They largely attribute the drop to an overall decline in births and pregnancies.
Ohio data is similar. “Statewide, the reduction in abortion is largely among women aged 19 or younger. The majority of women having abortions continue to be unmarried, with 79% reporting that they are single, divorced, separated, or widowed. Approximately 10% did not disclose their marital status and about 10% reported being married. Among the women who reported their race, about 48% were white, about 44% were African American, about 6% were Hispanic, and about 4% were Asian/Pacific Islander. Another 4% reported multiple ethnicity.”
A more in-depth look at the details behind the numbers can be found on the GCRTL website.
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