According to a 2019 state report, abortions in Wisconsin increased by more than five percent from 2018 to 2019. Nearly a quarter of those abortions were carried out by use of the abortion pill — and during the same time frame, the number of incomplete abortions also increased in the state.
In all, 6,511 abortions were committed in Wisconsin in 2019, up 287 from the year before. The overall abortion rate in the state is 5.9 per 1,000 women ages 15-44, lower than the national average rate of 11.6 per 1,000 women, according to the report.
The abortion pill
Wisconsin saw an increase in the use of the abortion pill (chemical abortion) in 2019. Among Wisconsin residents, chemical abortions increased by 22%; however, that number jumps to 24% with the inclusion of chemical abortions that failed and were then carried out with a second surgical abortion.
In all, one-third (33%) of all abortions on state residents — a total of 2,148 — were chemical abortions. Thirty-five of those chemical abortions were considered incomplete, meaning that parts of the baby or placenta were not removed, leaving the women at risk for infection. Those women also had follow-up surgical abortions, but it is unclear if those abortions were counted once as chemical abortions, once as surgical abortions, or recorded twice.
Late-term abortion
According to the report, the majority of the abortions were carried out prior to 12 weeks; however, 60 abortions were committed past 20 weeks, when babies are often able to survive outside the womb with proper medical care. Abortion in Wisconsin is restricted beginning at 20 weeks except in cases of medical emergency for the mother. But as Live Action News has previously noted, deliberately killing a preborn child is never medically necessary.
Sixty babies, old enough to be considered “viable” and able to hear and recognize their mother’s voices, were killed through abortion in the state in 2019, though abortion proponents claim late abortions are rare.
Complications
Eleven percent (11%) of abortions in Wisconsin in 2019 were reported to have resulted in complications, the most commonly reported of which was incomplete abortion, in which parts of the aborted child were left behind. In 2019, 621 abortions were incomplete compared to 73 the year prior, showing an increase of over 750% between 2018 and 2019.
According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, Planned Parenthood, which has three facilities in Wisconsin, extended its time frame for use of the abortion pill from 10 weeks to 11 weeks in 2019 — and the failure rate of the abortion pill is known to increase with gestational age. Use of the abortion pill has been shown to be four times more dangerous than a first-trimester surgical abortion.
Other complications included 54 cervical lacerations (52 more times than in 2018), five cases of hemorrhaging, four uterine perforations, and three infections. The actual number of complications may be higher due to overall inconsistent reporting of abortion complications.
Editor’s Note: This article has corrected a percentage since its original publication.
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