Abortion advocates are bemoaning the fact that abortion numbers are significantly lower for the month of July, the month that SB20, the Care for Women, Children and Families Act went into effect.
Despite that fact that one month’s data is not usually compelling, the drop was significant. The Guttmacher Institute reported that abortions fell from a devastating 4,230 in June, down to 2,920 in July, a 31% decrease. The Guttmacher Institute is the research arm of Planned Parenthood.
While abortion advocates complain that women are not able to access abortion services now, due to the new law, the reality is more likely that July was a period of adjustment, as the law went into effect, resulting in less abortions. It is well documented that over 90% of abortions take place prior to 12 weeks, the new gestational age limit allowed for abortion.
Also, having a possible effect is the new 72-hour wait period, an often life-saving measure, that requires a women to make two appointments with an abortion provider that are 72 hours apart. The intent is to allow women pause, to reflect on the life-altering decision they are about to make.
The 31% decrease in abortion is not as dramatic as it may seem, considering how many abortions were committed in the months leading up to July. The Guttmacher report showed North Carolina’s abortion totals were steady for the first six months of the year, from January. Given that June had over 4,000 abortions, when you extrapolate those numbers over 12 months, that is about 48,000 abortions. Historically, abortion numbers have ranged between 26,000 and 33,000 a year in North Carolina.The all-time high could actually mean that North Carolina is still a destination state, and perhaps even more so now that surrounding states like Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia have greater protections for unborn human life.
The tragedy in all of this is that we know 70% of women who are seeking abortions would choose to keep their babies if they had support, especially from the father. Today there is a crisis in fatherhood. And if abortion advocates were really concerned for women, less abortion would be as much a prerogative for them as it is for pro-lifers. But the sad reality is that even with the new law in North Carolina, unborn babies continue to die at alarming rates. Abortion is not healthcare.