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Tragic Increase in Abortion Must Prompt Bold and Swift Action to Protect Human Life

Work Is Just Getting Started to Protect Preborn Life on Cusp of the Overturn of Roe v. Wade

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Guttmacher Institute released new data concerning abortion in America, showing an alleged increase in abortion from 2017 to 2020. Live Action’s Founder and President, Lila Rose, released the following comment: 

“Nearly a million American children won’t be here to see say their first words or walk their first steps because they were killed by abortion in 2020. The human tragedy of this alleged increase in abortion cannot be overstated. Over sixty-seven thousand more abortions were performed in 2020 than in 2017. That should make us all sick with grief. This 8% increase in abortion is accompanied by a 6% decline in births.

These numbers are a searing indictment of our society and a harsh picture of our civilizational atrophy towards the ability to love and care for our children. 

These heartbreaking numbers also illustrate the effectiveness of pro-life laws restricting, or better yet, banning abortion. In Missouri, the number of abortions per year fell from 4,710 in 2017 to 170 in 2020 after Missouri passed a series of protections for pre-born life. That’s a 96% decline in abortion in Missouri.

This decline in abortion tracks with the numbers we have seen out of Texas, which has seen its monthly abortion numbers cut in half since a law protecting children from their first detected heartbeat went into effect last September. Protections for life like those passed recently in Texas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere across the nation are not reflected in the data released this morning, but we can be encouraged that these laws do work to stop abortion. We must act boldly to pass even stronger protections for life immediately. 

Every child callously killed by the poison or steel instruments of the abortion industry deserves to be remembered and mourned. Their memory demands that we stop the killing.” 

Live Action News compiled Key takeaways from this new data:

• Abortions numbers in 2020 (930,160) increased by nearly eight percent (7.87%) from 2017 (862,320), rising by 67,840.
• Abortion rate in 2020: (abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44) climbed by 7% (13.5 in 2017  to 14.4  in 2020). 
• Abortion ratio in 2020: (the number of abortions per 100 pregnancies) increased by 12% (18.4% in 2017 to 20.6% in 2020).
• The increase in abortion was accompanied by a 6% decline in births between 2017 and 2020, Guttmacher reported.
• 12% decline from 1,058,000 abortions reported in 2011, dropping by 127,840.

• 42% decline from the 1,608,600 abortions committed in 1990, a difference of 648,440 babies’ lives. 
• The abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44) fell by 15%, from 16.9 in 2011 to 14.4 in 2020 and a drastic 47.45% decrease from the 27.4 abortion rate reported in 1990. 
• Between 1980 (29.3) and 2020 (14.4), the U.S. abortion rate has fallen by over 50 percent

About Lila Rose & Live Action – Lila Rose founded and serves as president of Live Action. Live Action is a 501(c)3 human rights non-profit and the digital leader of the global pro-life movement. Live Action exists today to shift public opinion on abortion and defend the rights of the most vulnerable. With over 5.6 million social media followers and 1.4 billion lifetime video views, Live Action reaches up to 100 million people per month – saving lives and transforming hearts, with 38% of surveyed followers saying Live Action’s content has changed their position on abortion. Through compelling educational media, human interest storytelling, investigative reporting and community activism, Live Action reveals the humanity of the preborn and exposes the abortion industry exploiting women and families for profit. Lila is also the author of ‘Fighting for Life: Becoming a Force for Change in a Wounded World. Find Lila on Twitter at @lilagracerose, and Instagram at @lilaroseofficial, and Facebook at @lilagracerose. Find out more at http://www.liveaction.org.

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