Americans have another reason to give thanks this week. A new Centers for Disease Control report about abortion provides encouraging signs for unborn babiesā right to life.
Released Wednesday, the annual abortion report found that abortion numbers reached a historic low in 2016 across the United States,Ā The Hill reports.
TheĀ CDCĀ reportedĀ 623,471 abortions in 2016, down about 13,000 from 2015. The abortion rate (number of abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age) also declined from 11.8 in 2015 to 11.6 in 2016, as did the ratio of abortions per 1,000 live births at 186, the report found.
The total number of abortions decreased by 24 percent in the past 10 years, according to the report.
Tragically, theĀ CDCĀ found that three women died along with their unborn babies after legal abortions in 2015, the latest data available on maternal abortion deaths.
About 91 percent of abortions occurred within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, while 1.2 percent of abortions occurred after 21 weeks gestation ā which is almost viability at this point, thanks to modern medical advances. Though 1.2 percent may seem small, it still represents thousands of pain-capable, late-term unborn babiesā abortion deaths.
HereāsĀ more from the Washington Examiner:
The report ā¦ found 59% of women who had abortions had given birth before, and nearly 43.1% had had an abortion before.
TheĀ CDCĀ data revealed other trends and patterns about pregnancy termination. For instance, it found women in their 20s accounted for the largest percentage of abortions, 58.5%, while teens had the smallest percentage, 0.3%. Black women accounted for 38% of abortions, while white women accounted for 35% of abortions, though racial data came from only 32 of the states.
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Overall, the news is encouraging for pro-life advocates who are working to empower pregnant mothers to choose life and to restore legal protections to unborn babies.
āPro-lifers are passing protective laws, changing hearts and minds, and helping women through pregnancy help centers,ā said Michael New, an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute and professor at the Catholic University of America. āThese new numbers from theĀ CDCĀ provide additional evidence that pro-life efforts to build a culture of life are succeeding.ā
From providing free diapers and ultrasounds to educating parenting students about their rights on campus, to sidewalk counseling to laws that protect unborn babies from brutal dismemberment abortions, pro-life leaders are making a difference in the lives of countless families every single day.
Abortion activists, however, dismissed these life-saving efforts, claiming the drop is due to increased birth control access and declining pregnancy rates. They also claim the drop may be because more women are aborting their unborn babies on their own at home.
It is important to note that theĀ CDCĀ report is incomplete. State reporting is voluntary, and California, Maryland, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C., did not provide any data in 2016 or in previous years. Several other states provide only limited data.
The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion research group considered to have the most comprehensive abortion data,Ā reported a 7-percent drop in abortions between 2017 and 2014Ā in its most recent abortion report.
There were 862,320 abortions reported in 2017, down from 926,200 in 2014, according to Guttmacher. The abortion rate also fell to 13.5 per 1,000 women of childbearing age, down from 14.6 in 2014 and 16.9 in 2011. The numbers are higher than theĀ CDCās because the Guttmacher Institute collects data from every abortion facility in the country.
Not since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed abortion on demand in 1973 throughĀ Roe v. WadeĀ have abortion numbers been so low. An estimated 61 million unborn babies have been aborted since the infamous case was handed down.