If you believe the abortion apologists at the Planned Parenthood founded Guttmacher Institute, more than one million babies were aborted in 2023 – an increase since 2021, if you lean on the voluntary data given to the CDC by those making money from ending innocent life. To be clear, trusting the Guttmacher Institute on abortion is a lot like believing the Tobacco Institute about cigarettes. Consider the source. 

Still, Guttmacher’s tragic report was GOOD news for too many in the breathlessly reporting national press, so glad to know there more lives have been lost in the womb.  

WERE MORE THAN ONE MILLION LIVES LOST AND NEARLY 2/3RD BY CHEMICAL ABORTION PILLS?  

According to reporting and analysis from CNN:  

“Abortions are on the rise in the United States, despite bans that have taken effect in more than a dozen states since the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that revoked the federal right to abortion in June 2022.  

There were more than 1 million abortions in the US in 2023, the highest rate in more than a decade and a 10% jump from 2020, according to a report released Tuesday by the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual and reproductive health that supports abortion rights. The latest trends also suggest that medication abortion is a more common option than ever.” 

Another significant data point from the survey is that nearly two-thirds of all abortions were committed with Chemical Abortion Pills. 

From CNN again: “Medication abortion, also known as medical abortion, is a method by which someone ends their pregnancy by taking two pills – mifepristone and misoprostol – rather than having a surgical procedure.  

This option has become steadily more common over the two decades it’s been available, rising from less than 10% of all abortions in the US in 2001 to 53% in 2020 and 63% in 2023.” 

BUT HOW CAN WE FACT CHECK?  

There’s one significant problem with the news – America doesn’t have a national reporting law on abortion. Not only that, but some states like California don’t track any data at all. Two core organizations – the Guttmacher Institute and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – attempt to make sense of abortions in America, but they use different methods and publish different figures. 

Something doesn’t add up with the Guttmacher Institute’s claims: according to reporting by Forbes, 32,000 “extra” babies were born in the United States per year since Roe v. Wade was reversed. And before Roe’s reversal in June 2022, abortion was legal in every State in America. Today, 16 states have protections for life after conception or heartbeat: abortion is heavily restricted after this point.  

Unless all the people seeking abortions left the state for abortions in neighboring states, an argument often made by the pro-abortion lobby, this abortion increase is hard to explain – especially when fewer states than before welcome abortion, and births seem to be trending up. 

CHECKING THE MATH

According to Dr. Michael New, assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America and a senior associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute, it’s because the data quality may not be the same as previous studies.  

In his analysis at National Review, New writes: “By Guttmacher’s own admission, the calculations for the Monthly Abortion Provision Survey come from ‘a slimmer portfolio of data’ and are designed to produce faster calculations on the incidence of abortion. Given that, the 2023 abortion estimates may not be as reliable as Guttmacher’s previous annual abortion estimates.” 

New references studies conducted show birth rates are up in many states with strong pro-life laws. 

So, before the pro-life movement despairs and the pro-abortion lobby takes a victory lap, it’s worth keeping that in context. And yet, we mourn all the lives lost to intentional abortion.  

For women who need a helping hand, visit Standing with You, to get connected to loving support.