Category: Abortion

2014 Fourth-Lowest Year for Abortion in Arkansas Since 1978

A new report from the Arkansas Department of Health this week shows there were 4,273 abortions performed in the state in 2014.

The number of abortions increased in 2014 over 2013 by about 541 abortions. However, much of that increase was the result of women in neighboring states like Tennessee and Mississippi obtaining abortions in Arkansas.

Overall, 2014 was the fourth-lowest year for abortion in Arkansas since 1978.

Ten Lowest Years for Abortion in Arkansas Since 1978
Year	Number of Abortions
2013	3,732
2012	3,782
2011	4,033
2014	4,273
2010	4,532
2009	4,580
2004	4,644
2005	4,695
2008	4,789
2007	4,844

Abortion in Arkansas has been on a downward trend since the early 1990’s.

Since 2000, most abortions in Arkansas have been performed on women ages 20 – 29.

Year	<15	15-19	20-24	25-29	30-34	35-39	40-54
2000	56	1102	1905	1239	640	390	117
2001	54	1130	2046	1301	781	440	147
2002	54	952	1833	1244	681	388	136
2003	52	963	1837	1269	718	377	183
2004	49	835	1461	1084	667	393	151
2006	46	910	1592	1182	665	442	148
2007	39	831	1569	1128	669	456	150
2008	48	818	1532	1137	704	398	145
2009	35	739	1495	1148	642	395	119
2010	28	722	1455	1083	717	392	131
2011	32	583	1337	1003	625	331	121
2012	20	515	1281	878	634	326	128
2013	14	437	1194	980	641	329	137
2014	13	473	1371	1155	729	373	158
Total	540	11010	21908	15831	9513	5430	1971

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Health Department Data Reflects No “Medically Necessary” Abortions in Arkansas

This week the Arkansas Department of Health will release its annual report on abortions performed in Arkansas last year.

The report is the result of state laws like the Woman’s Right to Know Act of 2001 and other pro-life laws. Each annual report provides valuable information about abortion in Arkansas.

Some of the data for 2014 has already been released by the Arkansas Department of Health, and it shows an interesting trend: Since its first standalone report under the Woman’s Right to Know Act in 2010, the Arkansas Department of Health has not indicated a single abortion performed to “avert death or substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function” of the mother.

Under the Woman’s Right to Know Act of 2001, doctors must obtain a woman’s informed consent before performing an abortion. That means the woman must be informed about, among other things, the abortion procedure, its risks, and its alternatives.

However, doctors are not required to obtain informed consent for abortions necessary to save the life of the mother or prevent substantial, irreversible damage to the mother’s body–what some call “medically necessary” or “emergency” abortions.

The reason for bypassing the informed consent requirements in these instances is that offering information and obtaining informed consent may jeopardize the woman’s well-being during an emergency. However, since 2010, the Arkansas Department of Health has not recorded a single instance in which the informed consent requirement was bypassed during an abortion.

This is significant for a few reasons. Any time laws related to abortion come up, people often bring up abortions performed to save the life of the mother. Many claim requiring doctors to provide detailed information about abortion could jeopardize a woman’s life during a medical emergency.

Assuming doctors are properly documenting the abortions they perform, these reports from the Arkansas Department Health would seem to indicate one of two things:

Either none of the more than 16,000 abortions performed in Arkansas during the past 5 years were necessary to save the life or health of the mother, or obtaining a woman’s informed consent prior to an abortion is feasible even under emergency circumstances.

You can see the reports from the Arkansas Department of Health below (See Sections 5, 5a, and 5b of each report):

• 2010
• 2011
• 2012
• 2013
• 2014

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