Contrary to the abortion lobby’s claims, laws restricting abortions really do decrease abortion rates and recent research coming out of Texas confirms this. A recent study that was presented by the media and the abortion industry as “proof” that a temporary abortion ban led to increased second-trimester abortion rates once the ban was lifted actually showed that abortion rates declined due to the ban.
During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Texas governor Greg Abbott issued an order putting non-essential and non-urgent medical procedures on hold, including most abortions. A recently released study argued that this move led to an increase in second-trimester abortions after the fact, citing the fact that second-trimester abortions increased by 61% once the ban was lifted. However, as Michael J. New pointed out at National Review, a closer look at the evidence tells a different story. New points out that the study shows that significantly fewer second-trimester abortions took place in February and March of 2020 than February and March of the previous year and that the total number of second-trimester abortions from February to May had decreased compared to 2019. Far from increasing abortion rates, Texas’s ban reduced the number of second trimester abortions performed in Texas in the spring of 2020. Not only that, but the number of abortions performed on Texas women in other states decreased by 8%, calling into question the claim that women will simply travel out of state to get an abortion when it is banned in their state.
Lives were saved because of Governor Abbott’s decision to halt abortion during the COVID-19 lockdowns. This is good news for Texas, and is also an important reminder that abortion bans work! In recent years, the abortion movement has peddled the narrative that that pro-life laws do not affect abortion rates, and that they just lead to late-term abortions or women traveling out of state for abortions. The reality is more complex and more hopeful than this. While it is true that there are instances of women traveling to obtain abortions, and that there were women in Texas who went through with their abortions once the temporary ban was lifted, it is also verifiably true that abortion rates decrease when pro-life laws are in place, and this study is further confirmation of that fact.
Pro-life efforts since the 1980s have cut abortion rates roughly in half, and between 1990 and 2008, pro-life political victories lowered the abortion rate by 21%. Mandatory waiting periods and ultrasound laws have reduced the abortion industry’s ability to use pressure tactics and deception to convince women to get an abortion, and as we have seen in Texas, bans reduce abortion rates.
The legal status of abortion plays a role in shaping people’s assumptions about the morality of abortion. For abortion to become unthinkable, it must become illegal.
Hearing frequent claims that pro-life legislation makes no difference can be disheartening, but it is important and encouraging to recognize that these claims aren’t actually true! The evidence tells a very different story—banning abortion works and the pro-life movement is saving lives!
