(Oregon Right to Life) Oregon Health Authority’s finalized 2023 abortion records show dramatically increased abortion rates in numerous categories, including a sharp rise in the number of late-term abortions compared to the prior year. The statistics paint a stark picture of the state’s radical abortion landscape and signal a growing need for pro-life Oregonians to counter the extremism promoted by pro-abortion politicians and the abortion lobby.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) numbers published this week indicate that overall abortions increased statewide, the number of women traveling to Oregon from other states for abortions rose dramatically, and more than two and a half times the number of abortions performed at or after 23 weeks took place in 2023 when compared with 2022.
In sum, abortion providers in the state performed the most abortions in a single year since 2009.
According to the OHA Center for Health Statistics data, providers in Oregon performed a total of 10,075 abortions last year compared to 8,672 in 2022, a 16.2% increase.
Among the 10,075 abortions, 225 were performed at or after 23 weeks gestation (roughly the age of “viability”), more than two and a half times the 85 late-term abortions performed in 2022. At 23 weeks gestation and later, the unborn can feel pain, and many can survive outside the womb if born prematurely. The youngest baby to survive premature birth was born at 21 weeks and one day gestational age.
136 of the late-term abortions performed in Oregon last year were reported as non-surgical “medication” abortions – likely induction abortions. 79 were Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) procedures.
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In an induction abortion, providers inject saline, digoxin, or potassium chloride into the fetus or the amniotic sac, causing fetal cardiac arrest. Fetal death typically occurs within 24 hours and is verified with an ultrasound; in some cases, a second injection is necessary to cause fetal death. Labor is induced, and the deceased fetus is delivered vaginally. In cases when the fetus survives an induced abortion, Oregon law does not mandate that life-saving care be provided. In a dilation and evacuation abortion, the pain-capable fetus is dismembered with metal surgical tools. Providers verify abortion completion by reassembling the body parts.
“The dramatic increase in late-term abortions in Oregon is devastating and horrific,” Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson said. “At 23 weeks gestation and beyond, the unborn human being is well developed. She can hear sounds and begin to identify familiar voices, respond to light, kick, and hiccup. She can feel pain, and with help, she can survive outside the womb.”
“Late-term abortions involve the violent destruction of a developing human being by inducing cardiac arrest or violently tearing her limb from limb,” Anderson continued. “Radical politicians and the abortion lobby want to convince people that late-term abortions don’t happen. The OHA data shows that isn’t true.”
According to the OHA report, over 13% of women experienced complications in their late-term abortions, and eight women experienced more than one complication. Reported complications include, but are not limited to, hemorrhaging, infection, cervical laceration, retained tissue, and a failure of the first method of abortion.
The data also show that abortion tourism increased dramatically in 2023, with 1,661 abortions performed for women who traveled to Oregon from out of state, compared to 1,036 in 2022 – a 60% increase.
The new numbers come as Oregon has marketed itself as an abortion destination following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade and returning the right to regulate abortion back to the people through their elected representatives.
While many states have subsequently passed pro-life measures, Oregon has doubled down on providing and promoting legal abortion access throughout all stages of pregnancy for any reason. Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers have worked to expand access to abortion in the state. Planned Parenthood has even set up a new facility near the border of Idaho, which now has a robust pro-life law.
The OHA report noted that 427 abortions were performed in Eastern Oregon’s Malheur County, where the Idaho-adjacent Planned Parenthood facility opened. 381 out of the 427 abortions performed in the county for out-of-state residents, accounting for nearly a quarter of all out-of-state abortions performed in Oregon in 2023. There had been no reported abortions in Malheur County in 2022.
In a September informational committee meeting at the state Capitol, the leaders of Oregon abortion facilities and Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) professors testified that they are significantly increasing their capacity to perform abortions for women from Oregon and other states.
“We are proud abortion providers and will always provide abortions,” Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette CEO Sara Kennedy said. She added that her abortion providers “never turn patients away.”
During the hearing, pro-life Rep. Dwayne Yunker (R-Grants Pass) noted that his now-twenty-year-old nephew had been born early at 27 weeks gestation and asked how abortions at that stage were performed.
In response, the abortion providers confirmed that abortions are available and provided in Oregon “under the law” and that they will “provide the care” at the same gestational age that Yunker’s nephew was born and even later.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published at Oregon Right to Life and is reprinted here with permission.
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