Ohio Abortions Hit 39-Year Record Low
Department of Health Reports 210 Fewer Abortions Than Previous Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Katherine Franklin
DATE: Friday, September 16, 2016 PHONE: 614-547-0099 ext. 304
COLUMBUS, Ohio–Today, the Ohio Department of Health released the 2015 Ohio Abortion Report, revealing a decrease of 210 abortions from the previous year. This marks the lowest level since 1976, when record-keeping first began. A total of 20,976 abortions were reported.
“Thanks to our pro-life legislative strategy and the grassroots advocacy work of our local affiliates, we are making an impact,” said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. “In one year, we have seen more than 200 lives saved from the pain of abortion. In the last five years, we’ve seen more than 7,000 saved. That is the incremental strategy to end abortion in action. Despite the pro-abortion headwinds from Washington and the courts, the pro-life community really is ushering in a culture of life. On behalf of our board, our staff, and our statewide membership, we thank Governor John Kasich and the Ohio General Assembly for increasing protections for the unborn and supporting abortion-vulnerable mothers in Ohio.”
Since 2010, half of the state’s abortion facilities have been been shuttered or closed voluntarily. In that same time period, Ohio Right to Life has successfully advocated for the passage and enactment of 17 pro-life laws. Currently, the organization is advocating for the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation which would prohibit abortions at 20 weeks gestation when unborn babies can feel pain. In 2015, 478 abortions occurred after 19 weeks gestation.
“While 20,976 abortions is still too many, we take news like this as a solemn but significant victory,” said Devin Scribner, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “Every life that is spared the pain of being brutally aborted is a victory, a testament to the mission and work of pro-life advocates who stand by these mothers and their children in every corner of Ohio. Today, we honor the lives saved and the lives lost, and we recommit ourselves wholeheartedly to working towards the day that an abortion report reads: 0.”
To read the 2015 Ohio Abortion Report, click here.
Founded in 1967, Ohio Right to Life, with more than 45 chapters and local affiliates, is Ohio’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement in Ohio, ORTL works through legislation and education to promote and defend innocent human life from conception to natural death.
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