Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

May 2014 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has kept records and compiled statistics on legal induced abortion since 1969. It recently released its findings for 2010. The study revealed that while the number of abortions has declined over the last decade, there is still much work for pro-life advocates.

The study broke abortion numbers down by demographics such as age of mother, period of gestation, method of abortion and marital status.

The CDC report indicates that the number of abortions dropped in 2010 for every age bracket except for those 15 years old or under. 

Randall K. O’Bannon, director of education and research for National Right to Life, noticed another disturbing trend. He said, “Not every state asks about race or ethnicity, so precision is difficult. But in the 28 reporting areas that identified both race and ethnicity, 35.7% of abortions were performed on what the CDC refers to as ‘black’ women, 21% were performed on Hispanics and 6.5% were done on non-Hispanic women identified as being of ‘other’ race or ethnicity. This means that 64.2% of abortions in those reporting areas were done on minorities, or nearly two thirds.” O’Bannon said according to 2010 census data, minorities constituted 44.1% of the population.

Despite that bad news, O’Bannon said there are reasons to celebrate. “The drop in abortions across the board for all racial and ethnic groups shows that pro-life legislation, education and outreach have had an impact,” he said, “but these statistics are an indication that there is more work to be done in these particular minority communities.”

The entire study can be viewed at here.

cdc.gov, 11/29/13; nationalrighttolifenews.org, 12/5/13