Planned Parenthood recently lamented that since January 1, 2019, more than 250 pro-life laws have been introduced in various states. When combined with the hundreds of pro-life laws that have already been enacted during recent years, it is understandable why the abortion industry and their advocates are in panic mode.
But are these laws making a difference in protecting innocent human life from abortion?
I’m glad you asked!
Dr. Michael New is one of the leading experts in measuring the effectiveness of pro-life state laws. He states the evidence “clearly demonstrates that legal protections for the unborn save lives.”
This isn’t merely a personal opinion. Dr. New, an associate scholar of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, backs it up with substantial documentation which is summarized here.
Abortion Funding
Over time, the prohibition of public funding for abortion via Medicaid or other state sources has saved millions of lives. A 2009 analysis by the Guttmacher Institute (a pro-abortion organization) of 18 peer-reviewed studies showed that 15 of them documented statistically significant evidence of reduced abortion rates when funding was unavailable. A North Carolina study in 1999 found that 37 percent of women chose life for their babies without a financial subsidy.
Parental Involvement
The same year, Guttmacher reviewed 16 peer-reviewed studies to see if laws requiring parent involvement were a deterrent to choosing abortion. They were. Dr. New found three additional studies, bringing the total to 19. All of them showed a decline in minors’ abortion rate. Additional studies had similar results, most in the range of a 15 to 20 percent decline.
Parental involvement laws have a positive impact on pregnancy rates. A 2003 study published in the Journal of Heath Economics found a decline of four to nine percent in teens 15 to 17-years-old.
Another compelling benefit was discovered in a study in the Journal of Law, Economics and Organization of 2008 that revealed involving parents reduced suicides in the same age group by 11 to 21 percent.
Out-of-State Abortions
Do in-state laws prohibiting minor girls from having an abortion without parental involvement drive them to adjacent states where there are no such abortion requirements?
Two studies, one published in the American Journal of Public Health in 1986 and another in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2006, found in-state abortions declined significantly and exceeded the increase of out-of-state abortions.
Informed Consent
There is less available research regarding the impact of informed consent laws. However, three studies of a Mississippi law showed statistically significant drops in the abortion rate.
On the whole, the documented evidence is overwhelmingly positive that pro-life laws passed in states are saving babies and protecting mothers. Imagine the impact of many more laws recently passed or advancing in state legislatures across the nation.
You Can Help
Let’s keep this amazing momentum going! Here are areas where you can help. Let us know which appeal to you and we’ll direct you to some options.
- Passing pro-life legislation
- Electing pro-life candidates
- Educating others to the reality of abortion and beauty of the unborn child
- Youth-oriented pro-life work
- Helping women and men facing an unexpected pregnancy
- Proving help and healing to mothers and fathers after an abortion loss
When more people are mobilized into action on behalf of innocent human life, it will result in even more lives being saved.
If you aren’t involved, you can and should be!
There is a myriad of ways to be engaged and everyone has gifts that can be used to advance the pro-life mission. Let’s do it for the babies!
On behalf of innocent human life,
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