Abortions in North Carolina decrease by 31% after 12-week ban takes effect

A new report from a pro-abortion think tank shows North Carolina’s ban on abortions after 12 weeks’ gestation and other pro-life protections reduced the number of babies killed by 31 percent in a one-month period.

“This 31% decline in facility-based abortions provided in one month—the largest of any state—follows the July 1 implementation of severe new abortion restrictions in the state, including a ban on abortions occurring after 12 weeks’ gestation and an in-person requirement for state-mandated counseling,” the Guttmacher Institute wrote in its analysis.

However, the new Guttmacher report shows that 2,920 innocent babies were still killed in the womb in the month of July, though that represents a 31 percent decrease from June. The state’s new limits on surgical and so-called “medical” abortions went into effect on July 1.

While the drop in the total number of abortions in one month is a step toward the complete elimination of the killing of preborn babies and indicates that laws actually can stop abortion, the report does not capture abortions outside of the “formal health care system.” Recent data, however, shows that birth rates have risen in states that have restricted abortion since the reversal of Roe v. Wade and that many women in those states likely have not resorted to “self-managed” abortions, such as with illegal abortion pills.

The Guttmacher report found that neighboring states did not see a comparable increase in abortions, suggesting that some North Carolina residents did not travel for abortions elsewhere or otherwise used illegal pills.

“Guttmacher’s new data show no increases in abortions provided in neighboring or nearby jurisdictions (South Carolina, Virginia, the District of Columbia or Maryland) that would offset the more than 30% decline in North Carolina,” the analysis stated. “This could indicate that some people who would otherwise have obtained an abortion within the formal health care system in North Carolina may have self-managed their abortion (for instance, by procuring abortion pills by mail)” or they remained pregnant.

“North Carolina’s requirement of two in-person visits, at least three days apart, is likely a major barrier that many people who would otherwise come from out of state to get an abortion are unable to overcome.”

The Biden administration has sought to eliminate any restrictions on the distribution of dangerous abortion drugs and unilaterally ended the requirement that abortion drugs be dispensed in-person.

Major pharmacies including CVS and Walgreens also announced that they would begin handing out the dangerous abortion drugs.

North Carolina’s restrictions are still more permissive than other Southern states which have placed further limits on abortion. Florida prohibits abortions at six weeks’ gestation while South Carolina has its own six week abortion ban, though babies can be killed in the womb up to 12 weeks if they were conceived through rape or incest.

Pro-lifers have pointed out, however, that life begins at conception and the deliberate killing of a preborn baby is never medically necessary. Preborn babies are also never at fault for the circumstances of their conception.

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