Ohio Abortions Hit New Historic Low
State Report Shows 9 Percent Drop from Previous Year |
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Today’s release of the 2013 Ohio Abortion Report by the Ohio Department of Health shows that abortions last year hit an all-time low of 23,216. This is a 9 percent drop from last year (25,473 to 23,216). This is the lowest level since 1976, when record-keeping first began, and significantly lower (almost 18 percent) than 2010 levels (28,123 abortions).
“Ohio’s continual decline in abortions is representative of an increasingly pro-life culture in our state,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “We grieve for every life lost to abortion and we are concerned that abortions among African Americans, while lower than last year, are still disproportionately high. We are hopeful that with each passing year, we will find ways to save more and more lives.”
In 2013, four abortion facilities closed across Ohio. The 2013 Abortion Report reveals a:
- 2.4 percent overall decrease within the African American community
- 13 percent decrease in abortions after 19 weeks
- Decreases in the major metropolitan areas of Franklin, Hamilton and Lucas Counties
- Increases in Cuyahoga and Montgomery Counties
To read the 2013 Ohio Abortion Report, click here.
“We have to believe that this record-breaking report is directly tied to the efforts of compassionate pro-life Ohioans making a difference in the lives of women and children, and also to the legal protections afforded to children in recent years,” said Krider. “We especially thank Governor Kasich and the leadership of the Ohio House and Senate.”
This report comes on the heels of the closure of six abortion facilities since the start of 2013.
Founded in 1967, Ohio Right to Life, with more than 45 local chapters, 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.