Reporter Malcolm Moore wrote in 2013:
“There are more than 13 million abortions a year, or 1,500 an hour, in China…”
Malcolm Moore “336 million abortions under China’s one-child policy” The Telegraph 15 March 2013
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Indian researcher: parents get gifts with the birth of a son, but not with a daughter
Indian researcher Ashish Bose wrote about the situation in India:
“We find that many women themselves are interested in knowing the sex of the unborn child and they do not see any moral problem in undergoing these tests conducted by doctors: it is like getting blood tests for malarial parasites.
And second, most women have an inherent son complex. They know for certain that their status – in the eyes of their family, extended family, community and the village as a whole – will go up with the arrival of a son.
Gifts will flow in, there will be celebrations and relatives from far and near will call on them. On the other hand, if they give birth to a daughter, there is general gloom, no celebration, no gifts and the image of the woman suffers badly.”
Ashish Bose “Female Foeticide: A Civilizational Collapse” in Tulsi Patel Sex-Selective Abortion in India: Gender, Society and New Reproductive Technologies (New Delhi, India: Sage Publications, 2007) 82
Share on FacebookAbortion rate fell by more than half from 1980 to 2014- pro-life laws one reason
A report on abortion from The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Reproductive Health Services said the following:
“In the immediate years after national legalization, both the number and rate of legal abortion steadily increased. The abortion rate peaked in the 1980s, and the trend then reversed, a decline that has continued for more than three decades. Between 1980 and 2014, the abortion rate among US women fell by more than half, from 29.3 to 14.6 per 1000 women.
In 2014, the most recent year for which data are available, the aggregate number of abortions reached a low of 926,190 after peaking at nearly 1.6 million in 1990.
The reason for the decline is not fully understood but has been attributed to several factors, including…increasing numbers of state regulations resulting in limited access to abortion services.”
The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Reproductive Health Services The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2018) 26 – 28
Share on FacebookAbortion methods: percentages
From a report on abortion in the United States:
“Today, aspiration is the most common abortion method used in the United States, accounting for almost 68% of abortions performed overall in 2013.
Its use, however, is likely to decline as the use of medication abortion increases. The percentage of total abortions by the medication method rose from 10.6 to 22.3% between 2004 and 2013. In 2014, approximately 45% of abortions up to nine weeks’ gestation were medication abortions, up from 36% in 2011.
Fewer than 9% of abortions are performed after 13 weeks’ gestation – typically by D&E. In 2013, approximately 2% of US abortions at 14 weeks’ gestation or later were induction procedures.”
The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Reproductive Health Services: The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2018) 5
Public opinion on the reasons women get abortions
In 2016, a poll was conducted that measured what percentage of the population agreed with different reasons women had abortions. These are the results:
The woman’s health is seriously endangered: 85% approve, 11% disapprove
The woman is pregnant as a result of rape: 75% approve, 21% disapprove
There is a strong chance of serious fetal defect: 72% approve, 24% disapprove
the woman is married and wants no more children: 45% approve, 51% disapprove
The woman wants an abortion for any reason: 44% approve, 51% disapprove
The woman cannot afford more children: 43% approve, 54% disapprove
The woman is unmarried: 41% approve, 56% disapprove
Tom W Smith, et al. “General Social Surveys, 1972 – 2016” retrieved June 6, 2017, in Ziad Munson Abortion Politics (Medford, MA: Polity Press, 2018) 66
Share on FacebookStudy finds that almost 74% of post-abortive women were coerced
A study on post-abortive women found the following:
73.8% of post-abortive women surveyed admitted that they experienced at least subtle forms of pressure to terminate their pregnancies.
58.3% indicated that they decided to abort in order to make others happy
Nearly 30% of survey respondents admitted that they were afraid that they would lose their partner if they didn’t abort
66% said they felt abortion was wrong
67.5% said it was one of the hardest decisions of their lives
Priscilla K. Coleman, Ph.D., Kaitlyn Boswell, B.S., Katrina Etzkorn, B.S., Rachel Turnwald, B.S. “Women Who Suffered Emotionally from Abortion: A Qualitative Synthesis of Their Experiences” Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons Volume 22 Number 4 Winter 2017
This study was based on anonymous surveys of 987 women who sought postabortion counseling at pregnancy centers. Because these women regretted their abortions, the results may not be generalizable to all women who have had abortions. Nevertheless, the study shows that coercion is a problem.
Share on FacebookAbortion law in Belgium
Authors Karen Celis and Gily Coene describe abortion in Belgium:
“In 1990, after a long and salient political struggle, Belgium adopted a law that partially legalized abortion…
Compared to other European countries, Belgium was particularly late to legalize abortion, and it cannot claim to have established the most generous legalization of abortion.…
The 1990 abortion law permits abortions within the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy when it causes a “state of distress” for the pregnant woman…
The law, however, does not define this state of distress and leaves the appreciation of this condition up to the woman who is considering ending her pregnancy.
The law furthermore stipulates compulsory counseling on alternatives to abortion, a six-day waiting period (“period of reflection”), and a “unity of place” of the first counseling and the operation.
After 12 weeks, abortion is only allowed in cases where the pregnancy poses a serious health risk to the woman or in cases where the foetus suffers from a serious and incurable disease. In such situations, the attending doctor – after seeking a second opinion from a colleague – decides whether at least one of these conditions is fulfilled and whether the termination of a pregnancy is legal.”
Karen Celis and Gily Coene “Still a Woman’s Right? Feminist and Other Discourses in Belgium’s Abortion Struggles” Sylvia De Zordo, Joanna Mishtal and Lorena Anton, eds. A Fragmented Landscape: Abortion Governance and Protest Logics in Europe (New York: Berghahn, 2017)
123, 126
Poll shows support for pro-life laws
A Gallup poll in July 2011 gather the following statistics:
⦁ 26% of respondents believed abortion should be legal under any circumstances; 51% believed abortion should be legal only under certain circumstances, and 20% believe abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.
⦁ 87% favored a law requiring doctors to inform women about possible risks of abortion before performing the procedure, whereas 11% opposed such a law.
⦁ 50% favored a law requiring that a woman seeking an abortion be shown an ultrasound image of her fetus at least 24 hours before the procedure, whereas 46% opposed such a law.
⦁ 71% favored a law requiring parental consent for a minor to get an abortion, whereas 27% opposed such a law.
⦁ 69% favored a law requiring a 24 hour waiting period to get an abortion, whereas 28% opposed such a law.
⦁ 57% opposed a law prohibiting health clinics that provide abortion services from receiving any federal funds, whereas 40% favored such a law.
⦁ 47% of those polled consider themselves pro-choice, and 47% consider themselves pro-life.
Teresa LeGault 2020 Sentiments of an American Woman: The History and Future of Women and Abortion (100X Publishing, 2020) 124 – 125
Share on FacebookOnly 14% of OB/GYNs do abortions
“A nationwide study found that although 97% of OB-Gyns had encountered a patient seeking abortion at some point in their practice, just 14% do abortions.”
The study cited was Stulberg, Debra B., et al. “Abortion Provision Among Practicing Obstetrician–Gynecologists.” Obstetrics & Gynecology, vol. 118, no. 3, Sept. 2011, p. 609, doi:10.1097/aog.0b013e31822ad973
KATIE GLENN, J.D ““At-Home Abortion” is a Poison Pill” in Catherine Glenn Foster, Steven H. Aden, ed. UNSAFE: America’s Abortion Industry Endangers Women (Americans United for Life, 2021)
Share on Facebook69% of Italian Doctors Refuse to do Abortions
From the pro-choice book
“The practice of conscience-based refusal (conscientious objection) arises when health professionals refuse to provide certain services based on religious, moral, or philosophical objections. Refusal to provide services…is an increasing barrier to women’s access to timely abortion services across Europe where effective regulation of the practice is scant…
The number of objecting providers appears to be increasing in some countries without effective responses to ensure access to lawful abortion services. For instance, in Italy, where there is a law requiring providers to register their refusal to provide abortions, the Ministry of Health has reported that between 2003 and 2007, the number of gynaecologists invoking conscience in their refusal to perform an abortion rose from 58.7% to 69.2%.”
Christina Zampas “Legal and Political Discourses on Women’s Right to Abortion” in Sylvia De Zordo, Joanna Mishtal and Lorena Anton, eds. A Fragmented Landscape: Abortion Governance and Protest Logics in Europe (New York: Berghahn, 2017)
Source for statistic: Italy, Ministry of Health “Report on the Ministry of Health on the Performance of the Law Containing Rules for the Social Care Of Maternity and Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy: 2006 – 07” (Rome, 2008)
34 – 35
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