New Analysis Shows Pro-Life States Laws are Saving Thousands of Babies

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision returned the abortion issue to the people and their elected representatives in June 2022, 14 states now have active near-total abortion bans that have reduced elective abortions in those states down to zero. While reports indicate that many women from these states are still getting elective abortions through out-of-state travel or telemedicine, data from January to June 2023 indicate birth rates have increased in states banning abortion at all stages of pregnancy to the rate of 2.3 percent relative to states where abortion is unrestricted. This rate translates to these bans saving about 32,000 babies in those six months alone.

The 14 states with near-total abortion bans are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.

The latest reports from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission show that in 2021 elective abortion totaled more than 52,000 in the state. However, following the Dobbs decision and the state’s subsequent near-total ban – enacted in August 2022 – all elective abortions effectively ceased in the state and now register as zero since the ban went active. Similar reports from Idaho and West Virginia also show zero elective abortions and only medically-necessary procedures were reported after each state’s respective near-total ban went into effect. A report from pro-abortion advocates that track abortion statistics estimate there were 180,000 fewer abortions in 2022 and 2023 as a result all the near-total abortion bans.

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Comparing the reduced abortion rates with birth rates in these 14 states, a study by the Institute of Labor Statistics titled, The Effects of the Dobbs Decision on Fertility, provides additional detailed statistical evidence about how many unborn lives are being saved. Researchers analyzed birth rate data from the first six months of 2023 provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most notable birth rate increase took place in Texas where an estimated 18,594 more babies were born in those six months because of the state’s near-total abortion ban. These births are equal to 35.4 percent of all the elective abortions in the state from 2021 (52,495) and signify the state’s abortion ban protected some unborn babies. Louisiana and Kentucky saw the next highest increases in births with 1,806 and 1,762, equal to 23.3 percent and 31 percent of their 2021 abortions, respectively. The states with the smallest birth rate increases were Missouri with 280 more births, Idaho with 237, and South Dakota with 87.

According to Caitlyn Myers, PhD, co-author of the study, the data reflects nearly a one-fifth to one-quarter reduction in abortion as a result of the bans.

Clearly, the number of lives being saved is not equal to the number of abortions previously conducted in these states. Myers’ study established a correlation that possibly explains how abortion is on the rise in other states. The study illustrates that states with the highest increased birth rates also had the longer travel times to the nearest abortion clinics. For example, the average driving distance from Texas to an out-of-state abortion provider increased to 452.9 miles. Louisiana’s average distance increased by 408.6 miles.

Conversely, South Dakota and Idaho’s increased by only 32.9 and 25.7, respectively. However, Missouri’s driving distance increased by just 2.2 miles due to its sole abortion facility relocating from St. Louis to just across the border in Illinois where abortion is legal up to the point of viability. Myers also reports that certain states with largely unrestricted abortion that border states with abortion bans have experienced a surge in abortion tourism from out-of-state women – states such as, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, and New Mexico. Despite reports indicating that 42 brick and mortar abortion clinics across the 14 states have either closed or stopped providing abortions, the driving distance to the nearest clinic is playing a key role in how high the new birth rates are across these 14 states.

Telemedicine is also playing a role in facilitating abortion where the procedure is banned. According to 2023 abortion statistics, more than 40,000 women in these states have accessed harmful chemical abortion drugs through telemedicine. At least five states – Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, Vermont and Washington – have enacted laws shielding health care professionals from legal trouble for providing telemedicine abortions to people across state lines where abortion is banned. Maine will become the sixth state when its shield law takes effect August 9, 2024.

In addition to the 14 near-total abortion bans, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina have recently passed six-week “heartbeat” laws giving almost the entire American Southeast strong protections for unborn life that are expected to continue to raise birth rates and save more unborn lives.

Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “Pro-life laws save lives. Every person has an inalienable right to life. We must also change the attitude of the human heart to love and respect life.”

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