The following is a guest post from Adrianne Redding. Adrianne is currently studying Political Science at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.
Arizona’s abortion numbers were down 30 percent last September compared to the previous month, August, and compared to September of 2010.
In September of 2010, 1,053 abortions were performed in Arizona. There were 1,069 abortions in August of this year. This past September, 729 abortions were performed. That’s almost 400 fewer abortions than the previous month!
While Planned Parenthood officials are concerned over the lack of abortions, saying that it will put a child in an unhealthy situation, pro-life advocates are glad that new legislation is taking effect.
The new laws include allowing only a doctor to perform abortions; requiring the woman to have a face-to-face consultation with a doctor at least 24 hour prior to the abortion procedure; and providing women with the opportunity to hear their baby’s heartbeat.
The requirement of doctors being involved in a patient’s decision has forced seven health clinics to no longer provide abortions, leaving only three women’s clinics in the state to provide abortions.
This is a huge step for the pro-life movement in Arizona. Granted, there has been only one month’s statistics available, but it will be fascinating to see how the future abortion rate progresses.
I fully support these new laws and policies, because not only do they limit the number of abortions, but they also help insure that women who do proceed with an abortion will have a greater chance of getting through one without any physical harm done to them personally.
