Information collected from Florida abortion providers reveals that as abortions appear to be on the rise in the state, 27 babies were reported as born alive during abortions between 2015 and August 2020 in the state. Four of the 27 were born alive in 2020.
The information is compiled in the report, “ITOP Report of Infants Born Alive, Florida,” on file at the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). According to a spokesperson from the AHCA, ITOP stands for “Induced Termination of Pregnancy.” A previous Live Action News report noted that that four babies were reported to have been born alive after abortions in 2015, with none in 2016. Eleven babies survived abortion attempts in 2017, six in 2018, and two in 2019.
What happened to these abortion survivors is unclear, as no additional information was given.
However, testimony from a Planned Parenthood representative delivered at the Florida Legislature in 2013 made it clear that abortion businesses refuse to guarantee that they will attempt to provide medical care to infants who survive abortions:
State reports previously listed the counties involved; however, the state no longer publishes this information. Live Action News previously reviewed data from 2015, 2017, and part of 2018 when some information by county was available, but reports have since been updated to exclude this information. The decision to withhold county information can thwart potential investigations into the treatment and care of the infants required under federal law.
Babies born alive after abortion in Florida with County 2015 to August 2020 (Image: Live Action News)
Tragically, abortion numbers overall in the state have been ticking upward. According to a 2019 Tallahassee.com report, “between 2016 and 2018, the number of procedures increased nearly a half percent.” But that increased percentage could be climbing even higher. Charlotte Lozier Institute scholar Dr. Michael New recently tweeted, “Pro-lifers, Florida updated their abortion data from 2020 & the news isn’t good. Last year, as of early August, 38,923 abortions had been performed[.] This year, as of early August, 41,666 abortions had been performed[.] That’s a 8.8% increase! We need to step up our game!”
In 2019, a total of 71,914 abortions were reported in the state. Of that number, 4,226 (nearly 6%) were committed in the second trimester and nearly 61% (2,573) of those second trimester abortions were “elective.” Of just second trimester abortions, reasons given for abortion included financial (nearly 23%, or 953), mental or physical health of the mother or baby (16%, or 673) and less than 1% (27) were due to rape or incest, according to the report. In addition, in 2019, two babies were aborted in the third trimester, reportedly for reasons of fetal “deformity or abnormality.”
Of the 41,666 abortions reported thus far in 2020 in Florida, a majority were elective (31,634). A total of 8,113 were committed for “social/economic” reasons. Later abortions were no different. The report reveals that thus far in 2020 there have been 2,508 abortions committed in the second trimester and one in the third trimester. Out of just the second trimester abortions, over 61% (1,542) were elective, 23% (568) were for financial reasons, 15% were committed due to the mental or physical health of the mother or baby (387) while less than 1% (11) were committed due to rape.
Florida abortions by reason and gestation Jan to August 2020 (Image: ACHA)
Despite an increase in abortions overall, the number of abortion facilities in Florida have been decreasing. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a former “special affiliate” of Planned Parenthood, there were 85 abortion facilities (65 which were clinics) in 2017, an 8% decline from 2014. In 2019, reports showed just 71 clinics in the state provided abortion. So far in 2020, ACHA lists 56 licensed abortion facilities in the state, 17 of which are Planned Parenthood centers.
Thanks to committed pro-life sidewalk counselors and pregnancy resource centers in the state, thousands of preborn children and their mothers continued to be rescued from abortion. New Life Solutions in Largo, Florida, recently shared on Facebook that its ministry “has seen over 10k babies saved” since 1985, “as well as thousands more women and families who have been served and whose lives have been radically transformed.”
Editor’s Note, 8/27: Added video of Planned Parenthood testimony from 2013.
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