Number of Abortions Decrease in Minnesota. Positive Alternatives Helps Pregnant Women

   In spite of the best efforts of Planned Parenthood, abortions in Minnesota dropped by 1.5 percent in 2007 from the 2006 figure. The welcomed decline in deaths from 14,065 to 13,843 was revealed in the annual abortion report issued each year by the Minnesota Department of Health's Center for Health Statistics.

   Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) said the 1.5 percent drop in the number of abortions was a “welcome sign” and reflected the impact of the first full year of the Positive Alternatives program being in place.

   “We are very pleased to see the direct impact of Positive Alternatives on the state’s abortion numbers,” said Scott Fischbach, MCCL Executive Director. “Thousands of pregnant women in need are finding are finding the practical help they need to choose life for their unborn babies.”
   
   MCCL was instrumental not only in proposing the groundbreaking Positive Alternatives Act, but getting it passed and funded. Each year $2.5 million is granted through the Act to Pregnancy Care Centers, and each year MCCL has to fight to fend off efforts to kill the program.

   Fischbach said flatly, “Abortions declined because 2007 was the first full year of Positive Alternatives.” He added, “The program’s simple, effective approach is to provide real help to women considering abortion, so that they know they have options — abortion is not the only choice.”

   But he also noted that while the 2007 figure is the fourth lowest number on record since 1975, it is higher than 2004 and 2005. Abortions jumped by five percent in 2006 after four years of gradual declines. It is no accident that 2007 was also the year that Planned Parenthood opened its third metro area feeder clinic in a St. Paul suburb targeting teenage girls.

    MCCL has not only had to fend off the expansionary outreach of Planned Parenthood, it also has to struggle to save the life-affirming Positive Alternatives Act, which has been under attack in the Minnesota Legislature since it was passed in 2005.

   “Now, the evidence is in hand,” Fischbach said. “Providing resources and support to pregnant women does give them options, and many choose life for their unborn child.” 

   The state report shows that more women than ever (37 percent) cite economic reasons for undergoing abortion. “This high percentage indicates that more Positive Alternatives assistance is needed,” Fischbach said.

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