Abortions Drop in Several States State Leaders Credit Legislation and Education

Editor's note: Due in large part to the legislative and educational efforts of pro-lifers, several states have seen steady declines in the number of abortions. Already this year, NRL News has reported on the positive trend in North Carolina (March 2002 issue), where more women are choosing life for their unborn babies. Here we report on five other states that have experienced a decline in the number of abortions.

Abortion Numbers Down In Idaho, Kentucky, And Nebraska

By Liz Townsend

Idaho pro-lifers have seen a steady decline in the number of abortions. From a high in 1981 of 2,706 aborted babies, there were a record-low 801 abortions in 2000, according to the state's Vital Statistics Annual Report. The previous record was set the year before -- 867 abortions were recorded in 1999.

Chuck Uhlenkott, board member of Right to Life of Idaho, told NRL News that several factors can be cited for the decrease in abortions. "We feel strongly that legislation, education, and exposure have contributed," he said. "Activity during the legislative session, even when we're not able to pass a particular bill, helps to get the message out."

Kentucky pro-lifers agreed that even unsuccessful right to life legislative attempts increase the public's awareness of the life issues and the humanity of the unborn. "During the time we're trying to pass a pro-life bill, we're also educating the public," Michael Janocik, assistant director of the Kentucky Right to Life Association, told NRL News.

Kentucky Right to Life conducts a media campaign that focuses both on helping women by publicizing a toll-free pregnancy help hotline and on changing the general public's mind and heart. "We're hitting both ways," Janocik said. "We've had pretty good success so far."

Success can be seen in Kentucky's abortion statistics. The latest official count is 5,469 in 1999, significantly down from a high of 10,500 in 1990. Kentucky Right to Life reports that the number for 2000 is projected to be 4,800.

Nebraska abortions have also fallen sharply, reaching a 25-year low in 2001 of 3,982, according to statistics released by the state Health and Human Services System. The last time the number of abortions was below 4,000 was in 1976, the Associated Press (AP) reported. In the year 2000, 4,178 abortions were performed in Nebraska.

"If any of this can be attributed to the efforts of the pro-life movement that's a good thing," Julie Schmit-Albin, executive director of Nebraska Right to Life, told the AP. "It means our education is working."

Specific pro-life campaigns have brought the humanity of unborn babies to the public's attention.

"I think the partial-birth abortion debate in 1997 opened people's eyes," Schmit-Albin said. "Younger people these days have seen what abortion has wrought."

WISCONSIN ABORTION NUMBERS TAKE ANOTHER DIVE

By Barbara L. Lyons
Executive Director, Wisconsin Right to Life

Saving babies from abortion and helping their mothers escape a lifetime of emotional pain - - this is the foundation upon which the pro-life movement is built. In Wisconsin, decades worth of patient work is being rewarded - - and in a big way - - as abortion numbers continue to plummet!

The dramatic decline in Wisconsin abortions began after the peak year of 1980, when 21,754 abortions were performed. Recently released figures reveal that Wisconsin abortions numbered 10,925 in 2001, a spectacular 50% decline from 1980.

Looking at the numbers in a different way, there were 20 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age (ages 15-44) in 1980, compared to 9 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearing age in 2001. Between 1980 and 2001, there were only three years when abortions increased.

Driving the numbers in Wisconsin, as in some other parts of the country, is the high number of African American women obtaining abortions. In 1987, African American women accounted for 16% of total abortions.

In 2001, these women procured 24% of all abortions. Wisconsin experienced a small decrease in African American abortions between 2000 and 2001. It is clear that dramatic lifesaving gains can be achieved by concentrating future efforts in the African American community in southeastern Wisconsin.

Other key demographics indicate that over 70% of women obtaining abortions in 2001 were not married, compared to 1987 when 85% of aborting women were unmarried. Also, women appear to be obtaining abortions at a slightly older age, in the 20-24 age range.

Wisconsin began tracking chemical abortions in 2000, when the RU486 two-drug abortion procedure became available late in that year. In 2000, there were 136 chemical abortions compared to 497 in 2001.

There are many reasons for dramatic decreasing abortion numbers in Wisconsin. Massive ongoing educational efforts and the presence of Pregnancy Help Centers in local communities have played a key role. Parental consent and woman's right to know laws have been instrumental in driving the numbers downward.

In fact, abortions plummeted 17% in the first two years that the Wisconsin woman's right to know law went into effect. In relation to a total population of over four million, there are only six abortion clinics in Wisconsin.

A major factor contributing to the decline is the massive television advertising effort by Wisconsin Right to Life over the past 10 years. The $1 million annual campaign has as its primary goal to reach hearts and minds to impact attitudes and change behaviors, resulting in the saving of human lives. The target market of this campaign is women 18-34, those most likely to procure an abortion. Wisconsin pro-life attitudes have been measured over the past 10 years with consistent and frequent polling.

A full 67% of Wisconsin adults now believe abortion should not be legal except in the most extreme circumstances. This represents a 14% pro-life attitude increase in an eight-year span from 1993 to 2001.

Most significantly, 78% of women 18-34, the target audience, now believe abortion should not be legal except in the most extreme circumstances, a 33% pro-life attitude increase from 1993 to 2001. Clearly, focused public awareness achieved through television, the best medium to reach women 18-34, has been an overwhelming success.

Planned Parenthood, of course, takes credit for the declining number of abortions. What Planned Parenthood conveniently fails to mention is that it operates two of Wisconsin's six abortion clinics. The commanding presence of Planned Parenthood in the African American community certainly has a great impact on the large number of African American women procuring abortions.

The lives of women and children in Wisconsin are greatly enhanced by the marvelous downward spiral in abortions. Thousands of children are alive, and their mothers spared a lifetime of anguish, by the increased value for human life experienced in Wisconsin.