Democrats, undeterred since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, have continued to make abortion a national issue. The availability of mail-order chemical abortion pills, even in pro-life states, has boosted their cause.
Still, the abortion restrictions in red states are having a powerful effect, says Michael New, a well-known analyst of life trends with Charlotte Lozier Institute.
“I think the analysts who are really interested in the incidence of abortion need to look at birth data. The government doesn’t do a lot of things well, but it can count the number of babies being born,” New told Washington Watch host Jody Hice Friday.
"We have good data from Texas, good data from other states that have strong pro-life laws that more babies are in fact being born. I think counting abortion is tough; but the birth data does provide powerful evidence that our pro-life laws are saving lives and are building a culture of life and are doing a lot of good.”
Numbers released recently by the Society of Family Planning show a slight increase in reported abortions since the Supreme Court decision. The numbers decreased slightly in January of this year but showed an uptick beginning in February. They show a 13% increase for the first quarter of 2024.
SFP conducts such estimate reports periodically.
What do numbers really show?
There are reasons for skepticism, New explained.
“It’s not a comprehensive count. Prior to 2022, this organization had never done any U.S. abortion estimates. Sometimes there are disparities between their numbers and [those of other analysts], and it’s only recently that the Society for Family Planning has started counting these telehealth abortion numbers. I think that’s inflated the numbers a little bit,” he said.
Telehealth abortion consists of video appointments between a doctor and a woman seeking an abortion, and typically concludes with the doctor prescribing mail-order pills that can be sent to any state – regardless of that state’s abortion laws.
“That means a woman is obtaining a chemical abortion without an in-person medical exam. This is fatal for unborn children and terrible for public health. It’s horrible public health and horrible public policy,” New said.
Vice President Kamala Harris became the point person and loudest abortion cheerleader for the Biden administration. She’s vigorously carried that message into her presidential campaign and doubled down on abortion with the selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
New said roughly six states have what are known as “shield laws” that protect medical professionals who prescribe mail-order pills for patients in states with restrictions on abortion. It’s the kind of runaround, he said, that renders the Supreme Court decision useless.
“The other side does not view this as a state issue. They’re trying to nationalize the issue. Many politically liberal states are effectively exporting abortion. They’re passing laws to protect medical professionals who do send these dangerous abortion drugs into states that have pro-life laws,” New described.
It’s a trend Americans should expect to continue if Harris-Walz are in the White House in January. That warning comes from David Closson, the Family Research Council’s director for the Center for Biblical Worldview. Harris, he told Hice, has left no doubt where she stands with the consistent campaign messaging of “reproductive rights.”
Harris doubles down on abortion
Walz – Harris' pick for VP – is right there with her. “He’s one of the most energetic supporters of abortion that we’ve seen in recent memory,” Closson said. Examination of Walz’ record as a U.S. congressman and Minnesota governor bear this out.
“Going back to 2011 he voted twice to continue funding for Planned Parenthood. In 2012 he voted against a ban on sex-selective abortion. In 2013, 2015 and 2017 he voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, legislation that says when a baby in the womb can feel pain, abortion should be illegal. He voted against those three times, and then again in 2018 voting against the Born-Alive Survivor Protection Act,” Closson emphasized.
Under Walz’ leadership, Minnesota was the first state in the post-Roe v. Wade world to enact an overtly progressive and liberal pro-abortion law.
“Republicans there tried to water it down, to offer some amendments. They were all shot down. After [Walz] signed that legislation, you can now get a legal abortion through all nine months of pregnancy in Minnesota,” Closson lamented.
Walz didn’t stop there. He stripped state-level grant money that had been going to Minnesota crisis pregnancy centers and weakened the state’s own Born Alive Survivor Protection Act – and he made his stance clear in a recent campaign stop with Harris:
Walz: “We respect our neighbors and the personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn’t make the same choice for ourselves, there’s a golden rule. Mind your own [expletive] business.”
Minding one's own business was far from Walz’ objective when his administration set up a “hotline” for state residents to call and report neighbors who weren’t in line with Walz’ aggressive restrictions during COVID-19.
“This is a governor who imposed an indoor mask mandate. He had some of the most stringent COVID policies anywhere in the country. They rivaled what [Gov.] Gavin Newsom was doing in California,” Closson said.
Walz, a longtime gender warrior
Walz has long championed extreme gender issues too. He was the faculty advisor of a students’ gay-straight alliance group while serving as a public-school teacher and coach in 1999.
On Capitol Hill, he was a co-sponsor of The Equality Act, legislation that would codify sexual orientation and gender identity at the class level and would remove religious liberty as an exemption when Christians and gender views conflict.
“This legislation, laws, policies we’re talking about, this emanates from a way of looking at the world. This is emblematic of how he sees the world,” Closson said.
