This week, the Guttmacher Institute updated their state-level abortion estimates, releasing state abortion data for July 2023. The most interesting data come from North Carolina. On July 1, legislation took effect that protected preborn children after twelve weeks’ gestation and that included a 72-hour waiting period. The data indicate that abortions in North Carolina fell by an impressive 31 percent between June and the end of July. By comparison, abortions nationally fell by only about 7 percent during the same time period.
This new data add to a body of evidence that incremental pro-life laws lower abortion rates and save lives. A 2016 study of a similar 72-hour waiting period in Utah found that it reduced the number of abortions by approximately 8 percent in the Beehive State. There is less research on the impact of gestational age limits. However, since data from the North Carolina Center for State Health Statistics show that over 1,800 abortions took place after twelve weeks’ gestation in 2021, it is unsurprising that this newly enacted pro-life law would save some lives.
Overall, it has been over a year since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. Currently, 14 states have laws in place that largely protect all preborn children. However, in some states, enactment of laws that provide comprehensive protection to preborn children has not been politically possible. Right now, seven states have in effect gestational age limits that protect preborn children before the third trimester. This new Guttmacher data provide very solid evidence that passing these incremental pro-life laws has been a worthwhile strategy for pro-lifers.