A new report from the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows Arkansas’ abortion rate was cut by more than half from 2001 to 2021.
The abortion rate is calculated as the number of abortions performed in a state for every 1,000 women ages 15 – 44.
It’s a way to measure how common abortion is in a state by comparing the total number of abortions to the state’s female population.
In Arkansas’, the abortion rate was 11 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 – 44 in 2001.
However, the CDC’s latest report released last week shows Arkansas’ abortion rate fell to 5.4 by 2021.
Overall, Arkansas’ abortion rate has been in decline since the 1990s, and since 2022 abortion has been prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother.
Public opinion polling shows most Arkansans do not support abortion on demand, and Arkansas’ declining abortion numbers underscore the pro-life shift that has taken place in the state over the decades.
Right now the group Arkansans for Limited Government is working to place an amendment on the ballot enshrining abortion in the state constitution.
If passed, the amendment’s language would effectively erase decades of good, pro-life laws.
For example, it would prevent Arkansas from requiring abortionists to have parental consent before performing an abortion on an underage girl. The amendment also could permit abortion in Arkansas through all nine months of pregnancy — including late term abortion and partial-birth abortion.
Now that Roe v. Wade has been reversed and abortion is generally prohibited in Arkansas except to save the life of the mother, pro-lifers must continue to work to make abortion irrelevant, unthinkable, and unnecessary. Family Council remains committed to promoting the sanctity and dignity of innocent human life in Arkansas.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
