In this June 4, 2019, file photo, Anti-abortion advocates gather outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis.
Jeff Roberson / AP Photo
Pa. sees a small uptick in the number of abortions, but still markedly lower rates than previous peak counts
The majority of abortions - 88 percent - were performed to unmarried women.
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Ivey DeJesus/PennLive
Jeff Roberson / AP Photo
In this June 4, 2019, file photo, Anti-abortion advocates gather outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis.
(Harrisburg) — The majority of women who underwent abortions in Pennsylvania in 2018 were unmarried, and most were between the ages of 25-29. Half of all women who had abortions were white.
That’s according to the latest abortion statistics report out of the state Department of Health.
The report shows that there were 30,364 abortions performed in Pennsylvania in 2018.
The majority of abortions – 88 percent – were performed to unmarried women; women between the ages of 25-29 accounted for 9,252 – or 30.5 percent – of all abortions.
The abortion statistics report was released in December, and reflects data from the previous year.
The latest count reflects a slight increase from the previous numbers: In 2017, there were 30,011 abortions performed in Pennsylvania.
The latest count comes in the wake of an unprecedented legislative wave in Pennsylvania to enact restrictions on abortion.
Jeff Roberson / The Associated Press
A Planned Parenthood clinic is seen Tuesday, June 4, 2019, in St. Louis.
State legislators in 2019 pushed for an array of bills seeking to restrict abortions and reproductive rights, including fetal heartbeat proposals, fetal remains bill and legislation that sought to ban abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome.
Gov. Tom Wolf in November vetoed the Down syndrome legislation, which passed the Senate on a near party-line vote. The Democratic governor has steadfastly vowed to oppose any restriction on women’s reproductive rights. In 2017, Wolf vetoed a bill that would have narrowed the window on how long women have to get a legal abortion from six months to five months.
Pennsylvania law allows abortions up to 24 weeks of pregnancy for any reason except to choose the gender. The 2017 bill would have banned abortion at 20 weeks or later; it also would have criminalized the most common procedure used in second-trimester abortions — a procedure medical professionals call “dilation and evacuation.”
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives in November approved legislation requiring hospitals to either bury or cremate fetal remains after a miscarriage or death. The bill would continue to allow patients the ability to handle their disposition on their own.
NARAL considers Pennsylvania to have severe restrictions on abortion and other reproductive rights.
The number of abortion providers has continued to decrease: 2017 saw a 10 percent decrease in the number of facilities providing abortion in Pennsylvania. Some 85 percent of Pennsylvania counties have no clinics that provide abortions, and 48 percent of Pennsylvania women live in those counties.
Last year, 250 restrictions were introduced in 41 states, including full-out abortion bans. Over a third of American women now live in communities without an abortion provider.
According to the Department of Health report, residents of other states, territories and other countries accounted for 2,124 abortions in 2018.
Jose Luis Magana / AP Photo
FILE PHOTO: In this Friday, Jan. 18, 2019 file photo, anti-abortion activists march outside the U.S. Supreme Court building, during the March for Life in Washington.
Of the abortions performed in 2018 in Pennsylvania, 87 percent were performed in six counties: Allegheny, Dauphin, Delaware, Montgomery, Northampton and Philadelphia. More than 40 percent of Pennsylvania residents receiving abortions were residents of Philadelphia County.
Patients under age 20 accounted for 8.6 percent of all abortions, and patients under age 18 accounted for 2.7 percent.
In a statement released to the media, the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference cited encouragement over the fact that the latest total is significantly less than the previous highest count.
The latest total is less than half of the all-time high of 65,777 abortions in 1980.
“These numbers show that abortion remains a serious problem in Pennsylvania, as well as across the entire United States,” said Eric Failing, the executive director of the organization. “We’re grateful that the number of abortions has decreased significantly in recent decades, but there are still way too many. Even one is too many.”
Sometimes, your mornings are just too busy to catch the news beyond a headline or two. Don’t worry. The Morning Agenda has got your back. Each weekday morning, host Tim Lambert will keep you informed, amused, enlightened and up-to-date on what’s happening in central Pennsylvania and the rest of this great commonwealth.
