Estimates that say abortions didn’t drop after Dobbs are questionable. Here’s why.
(National Review) On Wednesday, the Society of Family Planning released an updated abortion estimates from their #WeCount project. Their new estimates include monthly US abortion totals through September 2023. The new data allegedly shows that between July 2023 and September 2023 approximately 81,000 to 89,000 abortions were performed each month. According to their report, these numbers are comparable to the monthly abortion numbers before the Dobbs decision. This spin was enthusiastically picked up by several mainstream-media outlets including the Associated Press, the hilland US News and World Report.
Not surprisingly, the same methodological flaws present in previous #WeCount estimates are present in this current version. Specifically, the #WeCount project compares monthly post-Dobbs abortion data in pre-Dobbs abortion data. However, it estimated abortions in just two months before the Supreme Court Dobbs decision. That’s a very small sample size. It should also be noted that Texas and Oklahoma both enforce strong pro-life laws Dobbs. It reduces the pre-Dobbs abortion estimate and does any post-Dobbs The rejection seems less noticeable.
An interesting detail about this new #WeCount report is that it provides estimates of telehealth abortions. It says that about 16 percent of all abortions performed in the US between July 2023 and September 2023 were performed via telehealth. There may be reasons to question these estimates. However, there is good research showing that chemical abortions performed under medical supervision pose serious health risks. That more than 10,000 chemical abortions occur each month in the United States without personal medical supervision is certainly a cause for concern.
Missing from the media coverage of these new #WeCount estimates is that since late 2022 four studies analyzing birth data have provided strong statistical evidence that recently implemented pro-life law saves lives. My Lozier Institute study (November 2022), a Journal of the American Medical Association study (June 2023), and a University of Houston study (January 2024) all show that the Texas Heartbeat Act has resulted in about 1,000 more babies being born in Texas each month. Also one study from November 2023 by the Institute for Labor Economics showed similar findings. Analyzing birth data from the first six months of 2023, the study found higher birth rates in the 13 states that enacted strong pro-life laws than in the 25 states where pro-life laws remained legal. abortion
Overall, regardless of how the mainstream media spins the current #WeCount abortion estimate, there remains overwhelming evidence that recently enacted pro-life laws have prevented abortions and saved lives.
Editor’s Note: This article was published on National Review and reprinted here with permission.
