Michigan will no longer report statistical information on abortions committed within the state. Its upcoming 2023 abortion report will be its last, as the state is poised to become a haven for abortionists. Abortions on out-of-state patients reportedly increased 66% from 2021 to 2022.
Bridge Michigan reported that the state will stop collecting data on abortions committed within the state for the first time in 45 years, as part of the extreme Reproductive Health Act. It places Michigan as one of just a few states to decide to no longer collect abortion-related data, according to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute.
“Data collections by health departments can be useful when it’s used for public health purposes,” Rachel Jones, principal research scientist at Guttmacher, told Bridge Michigan, though she claimed that sometimes, “the goal is to monitor and stigmatize health care providers and the people who are getting the abortions.”
Oddly, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is claiming this move puts abortion more in line with most medical procedures — even though MDHHS does, and presumably will continue to, measure and report on the number of pregnancies and live births, Caesarian deliveries, preterm births, hospitalizations, and other medical procedures.
It appears that abortion is the outlier given special exemptions from the standard legitimate health care procedures performed by medical providers.
READ: Michigan school board member: Teachers should be allowed to refer students for secret abortions
Lynn Sutfin, spokesperson for MDHHS, made it clear in her comments to Bridge Michigan that this move is an ideological one, saying, “For years, women and their doctors faced burdensome requirements when seeking abortion care that had no basis in medicine and were designed to dissuade women from accessing the care they needed.”
Genevieve Marnon, legislative director for Right to Life of Michigan, told Bridge Michigan this will put women’s lives at risk, as women will now have no ability to find out information like abortion facility health and safety violations, or learn beforehand about abortionists with high complication rates.
“The removal of the reporting requirement at the same time health and safety regulations for abortion clinics were removed should be of concern to any woman who walks into an abortion facility,” she said. Dr. Catherine Stark, an OB/GYN and director of the pro-life Crossroads Care Center, agreed, saying, “It’s basic quality assurance. Some people see that the state has a responsibility to its citizens to protect the health and safety of women, especially undergoing medical and surgical procedures.”
Last year, the state of Minnesota made a similar move, deciding to no longer report the number of infants who survive abortion every year. Live Action News reported in 2020, “According to the Guttmacher Institute, as of March 1, 2020, just 28 states ‘require providers to report postabortion complications.’ These reports can vary by state — but several states have no abortion reporting requirements at all. So how can the abortion industry and its media friends reasonably claim abortion is safe?”
But as we have seen time and again, the well-being of the abortion industry trumps the safety of women, no matter what.
