Tag: Abortions

ACLU Argues Michigan Law Requiring Parental Consent for Abortions Harms Minors

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Pregnancy Test

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report Thursday arguing that a Michigan law requiring parental consent for abortions harms minors.

The law, which became effective in 1991, requires all Michigan residents under the age of 18 to obtain parental consent before getting an abortion or receive a waiver from a judge. The ACLU of Michigan chapter, alongside Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health (MOASH), however, argued that the law “undermines the safety, health, and dignity” of minors and that the process to waive parental consent is “traumatizing.”

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Federal Appeals Court Blocks Biden Admin Bid to Require ER Doctors to Perform Abortions

Just the News
Doctor

A federal appeals court on Tuesday sided with a coalition of Christian medical professionals who had objected to guidance from the Biden administration requiring that emergency room doctors perform abortions.

The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Christian Medical and Dental Associations, as well as the state of Texas, had challenged the Department of Health and Human Services guidance and secured an initial win at the lower court, blocking the guidance.

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Commentary: Overturning ‘Roe v. Wade’ Has Already Saved 32,000 Babies

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You know there’s something to celebrate when The New York Times is forced to report in its headline: “The first estimate of births since Dobbs found that almost a quarter of women who would have gotten abortions carried their pregnancies to term.”

The number of infant lives saved by last year’s landmark Supreme Court decision is estimated at 32,000, according to a report by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Middlebury College, and the German Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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Idaho Asks Supreme Court to Stop Federal Government from Using ERs as ‘Enclave’ for Abortions

Just the News

Idaho is asking the Supreme Court to intervene and allow the state to enforce its pro-life law despite the Biden Administration’s efforts to block it by allowing abortions in emergency rooms, according to court documents.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act is meant to ensure that all patients who request emergency room treatment are examined, but Idaho argued in its court filing Monday that the law turns “protection for the uninsured into a federal super-statute on the issue of abortion, one that strips Idaho of its sovereign interest in protecting innocent human life and turns emergency rooms into a federal enclave where state standards of care do not apply.”

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City Sued for $500,000 ‘Reproductive Justice Fund’ That Allegedly ‘Aids and Abets’ Illegal Abortions

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Pro-life advocates sued the city of San Antonio Tuesday over its “Reproductive Justice Fund,” which they allege violates Texas law by using taxpayer dollars to aid women getting abortions out of state, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The city council approved a $500,000 fund in September as a part of its 2024 budget to assist reproductive health organizations and one member of the city council expressed hopes that it would help women get abortions “where they are legal,” according to KENS 5, a CBS News affiliate. The lawsuit filed by Texas Right to Life (TRL), as well as the Texas Leadership Coalition and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, argues that pro-abortion groups will use the fund to pay for a woman to go outside the state to get an abortion in violation of Texas law, according to court documents.

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President of Wisconsin Right to Life Files Second Complaint Against Planned Parenthood Abortionists

M.D. Kittle

Wisconsin Right to Life state Director Dan Miller has filed a second round of complaints with the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board demanding that the agency investigate Wisconsin doctors illegally performing abortions in defiance of state law.

Miller filed his first complaints late last month after Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced it would resume abortions at its Madison and Milwaukee clinics.

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Proposed Federal Regulation Could Force Employers to Pay for Time Off for Abortions

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A new proposal from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) could require paid time off for women to get abortions and may even require employers to pay for travel related to the procedure, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The EEOC proposed new guidelines in August to enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) that was signed into law in December 2022, with the new guidelines classifying abortion as a related medical condition, according to the proposal from the EEOC. While the rule can’t require employers to pay directly for an abortion, the classification could open the door for employers to be required to give paid time off for an abortion and possibly even for employers to pay for travel expenses if the woman’s state does not permit an abortion, experts told the DCNF.

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Minnesota Abortions Increased Significantly in 2022, Report Says

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Abortions in Minnesota experienced a significant increase of 20% in 2022, as revealed in a report released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

This sharp rise comes on the heels of new abortion laws passed by lawmakers during the 2023 session, removing restrictions on abortion throughout pregnancy and repealing long-standing abortion laws, including portions of the reporting law that governs the release of the MDH data.

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Illinois Finds 54 Percent Uptick in Abortions One Year After Dobbs Decision

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Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) announced Monday that it had seen an increase in abortions by over 50% since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to a press release.

The Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June 2022 that abortion was not a constitutional right and left the decision up to the states to enact their own laws on the issue. Nearly a year later, PPIL announced that clinics reported an increase in abortions by 54% with almost a quarter of the patients traveling out-of-state to get the procedure, according to the press release.

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Arizona’s Pre-Roe Abortion Law Receives National Support from 17 States

Neil Jones

A coalition of 17 states, led by Arkansas, is among the entities which recently asked the Arizona Supreme Court to reverse a ruling barring Arizona’s territorial-era law restricting abortions from being enforced.

The current abortion struggle in the state surrounds Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) § 13-3603, the pre-roe law which states that no person is allowed to provide a pregnant woman with an abortion unless it is necessary to save the mother’s life and ARS § 36-2322, which was enacted in 2022 and prohibits the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Arizona Court of Appeals previously ruled that the 15-week ban takes priority over the previous law to avoid any confusion for medical professionals. Therefore, abortion is currently legal in Arizona for a brief window of pregnancy.

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Trump Vows to Reduce Abortions Through Incentivized Adoptions

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump says his remaking of the Supreme Court helped overturn Roe v Wade and gave pro-life activists “the upper hand” in fighting abortion, and if he returns to the White House he will focus on reducing abortions by incentivizing adoptions.

“I think it’s very important that if I win, and I hope I’m going to win, we’re winning by a lot right now, we’ll be pressing the adoption option,” Trump said in a wide-ranging interview Monday night with Just the News, No Noise television show on the opening night of the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in Orlando, Fla.

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Tennessee Bill Would Prevent Government Spending on Abortions

The Center Square

A bill to prevent local governments from spending taxpayer funds on abortions or travel out of state to get abortions passed a Tennessee Senate committee this week and will soon head to the full Senate.

The bill comes after Tennessee’s law banning abortions went into effect following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. Last year, the Metro Nashville council proposed a $500,000 grant to assist women getting an abortion outside of Tennessee but then amended the bill to make it a grant to Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi.

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Pentagon Will Pay for Travel to Other States for Abortions

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The Department of Defense (DOD) will pay for troops to travel to states that allow abortions and obtain so-called “reproductive health care” at non-military facilities, according to a new policy released Thursday evening.

The landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization Supreme Court decision gave states the authority to determine localized abortion policies. The Hyde amendment bars DOD from administering abortions at military medical facilities, the new policy carves out provisions for expanded leave times and set-aside funding for servicemembers stationed in states that restrict abortions to cross state boundaries to obtain the procedure.

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NYC Aims to Give 10,000 Free Abortions a Year Through New Program

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New York City began offering free chemical abortions through a Bronx clinic Wednesday as part of a new program, which is slated to expand to several other boroughs this year, Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Wednesday.

The city already offers abortion pills at some hospitals, but will be expanding the program to clinics in the Bronx, Queens, Harlem and Brooklyn in the coming year, according to Adams. The program will aim to provide 10,000 free abortions by pill each year, according to CNN.

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Minnesota Department of Corrections Expands Abortion Coverage for Inmates

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The Minnesota Department of Corrections will now pay for any inmate’s abortion, regardless of the reasons for seeking the procedure, according to a new policy.

The new policy, adopted January 10, replaces a 2018 policy that limited the department’s coverage of abortion to cases where the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest or if the life of the mother was at risk.

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Poll: Most Voters Support Abortion Restrictions in Graham’s New Bill

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Most voters support banning abortions at 15 weeks or earlier, a poll from WPA Intelligence found.

The poll comes after Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced federal legislation that would ban abortions after 15 weeks with exceptions for for rape, incest and the life of the mother. A combined 62% of registered voters, including 48% of Democrats, believed abortion should only be allowed up to 15 weeks or earlier, the WPA Intelligence poll found.

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DOJ Workers Want Paid Travel for Out-Of-State Abortions

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Some Department of Justice (DOJ) workers want to be paid if they take leave and travel to more permissive states to have abortions, according to CNN.

The employee-run DOJ Gender Equality Network sent an Aug. 4 letter to Vice President Kamala Harris, Attorney General Merrick Garland and other high-ranking officials calling for the Biden administration to provide paid time off and fully cover travel expenses for staff going across state lines for “abortion care,” the outlet reported.

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Three More States Are Poised to Ban Abortion Amid Court Battles

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Idaho, Tennessee and Texas are moving to enact “trigger bans” restricting abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade June 24, ending the precedent which had banned states from restricting abortion throughout the first six months of pregnancy.

The bans in these three states will take effect 30 days after the Supreme Court officially transmitted its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Association July 26, according to The Hill. Another 10 states had trigger bans go into effect after elected officials enacted them, and trigger abortion bans went into effect immediately after the court overturned Roe in three other states.

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Most Companies Quiet on Abortion After Roe Overturned

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Most U.S. companies aren’t making public statements about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade June 24 in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a Conference Board survey found.

Only 8% of U.S. companies have made public statements about the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe, and another 2% plan to make a statement, according to the survey. Most companies in the survey had made public statements about social issues since 2020, with 61% addressing racial equality, 44% addressing LGBT issues, 40% addressing COVID-19 and vaccines and 30% addressing gender equality.

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Dem Governor Urges Biden to Use Military Bases for Abortions

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Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday urged the Biden administration to consider opening up military bases for abortions to women living in states that heavily restrict the procedure, ABC News reported.

Since military bases are considered federal lands, Hochul argued in a virtual meeting with President Joe Biden that federal law would allow them to override state bans, according to ABC. Her suggestion heeds widespread outcries from  Democratic politicians about loss of women’s rights following the Supreme Court’s decision on June 24 overturning Roe V. Wade.

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Minnesota Companies to Cover Travel Expenses for Abortions

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Some Minnesota businesses are joining a growing list of companies offering travel benefits to employees who want to terminate their unborn babies. This new policy comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Target Corporation 

According to multiple sources, Target Corporation will expand its existing health care travel reimbursement policy to include costs for “reproductive services” for employees in states that ban abortion. Benefits are expected to begin this month.

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Commentary: Planned Parenthood Directs Women to Illegal Abortions

RealClearWire

Planned Parenthood is directing its patients to a service that guides women through the process of illegally importing abortion drugs into the United States. The information is communicated prominently on a landing page that links from the front page of the organization’s website. It’s all part of a broader plan by abortion activists to use the illegal trade of drugs like mifepristone and misoprostol to provide abortions in states where abortion will be banned if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

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Yelp Exec: Abortion Access Is ‘Fundamental’ to Women’s Success in the Workplace

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A Yelp executive said women need access to abortions to be successful at work as the company announced it would fund travel expenses for employees traveling out of state for abortions.

“The ability to control your reproductive health, and whether or when you want to extend your family, is absolutely fundamental to being able to be successful in the workplace,” Miriam Warren, Yelp’s chief diversity officer, told The New York Times.

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Oklahoma House Overwhelmingly Passes Ban on Nearly All Abortions

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On Tuesday, the Oklahoma House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to ban almost all abortions in the state, a bill that would be even more restrictive than Texas’s six-week ban.

Axios reports that the Oklahoma House passed HB 4327 by a margin of 78-19. The bill would ban any and all abortions, with the sole exception of abortions that must be carried out in order to save the life of the mother. The bill would also provide incentives for private citizens to sue anyone who is suspected of providing abortions or helping people get abortions, with rewards of up to $10,000 for each abortion that a suspect has performed.

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Corporations Go Out of Their Way to Help Employees Get Abortions

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Corporations, including Citigroup, Apple and Match, are helping their employees undergo abortions in light of new, state-level restrictions.

Citigroup announced a policy of covering travel costs for U.S.-based employees seeking abortions “in response to changes in reproductive healthcare laws in certain states” in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The policy will cover airfare and lodging, according to Bloomberg.

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Abortion Pills Now More Common Than Surgical Abortions

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Medication-induced abortions accounted for 54% of all abortions in the U.S. in 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Abortion pills have grown in popularity since they were first introduced in 2000, the Guttmacher Institute reported. And rules requiring women to receive their first two abortion pills at a clinic or doctor’s office were lifted during the pandemic, allowing women to speak with doctors via “telemedicine” and get the pills by mail, The New York Times reported.

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Commentary: We Can’t Split the Difference on Culture

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The United States is an outlier among established democracies in two respects: We face both falling social trust and rising polarization. I have argued that the two dynamics connect in a doom loop. Trust in others and institutions falls, leading to greater polarization, which drives trust down even more. That is why the two processes are getting worse at the same time. A nasty dynamic has taken hold in the country, and it regularly affects all of us.

Many issues polarize us, but we should prefer polarization on economics to polarization on culture. Polarization is least damaging on issues most amenable to “splitting the difference”—as many economic issues are.

Consider taxes. Progressives want higher taxes on the rich, while conservatives want lower taxes. The possibility of compromise always exists—and even if it is obscured beneath the surface of our political tempers, uncovering it is not hard. For example, we could average our preferred tax rates, and no one would come away emptyhanded. Granted, that’s not how we have handled this issue in the past, but it’s at least conceivable.

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Pro-Life Leaders React to High Court’s Procedural Ruling on Texas’ Heartbeat Law

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Pro-life leaders anxiously awaiting decisions in major abortion cases reacted Friday to news that the Supreme Court had dismissed one challenge to Texas’ ban on abortions after an unborn baby has a heartbeat. 

“Today, the Supreme Court refused to strike down the lifesaving and democratically popular Texas heartbeat law,” said Live Action founder and President Lila Rose. “While the court did give a road map for lower courts to put the law on hold, the opinion of the court was crystal clear that this case was not commenting on the constitutionality of the abortion restriction itself.”

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Taking Down Pro-Life Websites, Donating to Planned Parenthood: How Tech Companies Are Fighting Texas’ Abortion Law

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Several major tech companies spoke out against the Texas Heartbeat Act, taking down pro-life websites and funding out-of-state abortions.

The “Texas Heartbeat Act” enacted May 19, prohibits abortions after the unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable, with exceptions for medical emergencies. The law includes a provision providing a civil cause of action to sue a person who “knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion,” and may result in a plaintiff receiving $10,000 or more for each abortion found to be in violation of the law.

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Texas State Senator Debunks Myths About the New Heartbeat Act

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Abortion advocates who insist Texas’ Heartbeat Act places bounties on pregnant women’s heads are misrepresenting the legislation, Republican Texas state Sen. Brian Hughes told the Daily Caller News Foundation Friday.

“I want to be very clear,” Hughes said. “There are no claims against the mother. We want to make sure folks realize that … I read a couple of places saying the mothers would receive criminal penalties. There are no criminal penalties in this bill at all. It’s driven by private civil enforcement against the doctor and against people who aid and abet the doctor and in doing illegal abortions.”

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Ohio Republicans Move to Exempt Doctors from Providing Abortions on Religious Grounds

Peter D'Abrosca
Image of a doctor's uniform

Ohio Republicans have added a provision to the state’s two year budget bill that would allow doctors and insurance providers to refuse to perform and pay for abortions if abortion violates their moral or religious beliefs. 

State Sen. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) is responsible for the new language in the bill, according to The Columbus Dispatch. That language would also protect doctors and insurance companies from lawsuits by those to whom they  refuse service, the report said. 

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Commentary: Planned Parenthood Is Providing Fewer Breast Screenings, Wellness Exams, and More Abortions, Transgender Services

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This month, Planned Parenthood Federation of America quietly released its 2019-20 annual report to little fanfare.

Like previous years, both the total number of abortions as well as taxpayer funding increased. Meanwhile, the amount of private funding and active individual contributors decreased—the latter dramatically so.

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Virginia Senate to Vote on Legislation Giving Certain Health Insurance Plans Abortion Coverage Option

Jacob Taylor

The Senate of Virginia on Friday will vote to pass legislation out of the body that would allow for private health insurance companies offering plans through the state exchange to have the option for abortion coverage.

Senate Bill 1276 was introduced by Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond City), who is also a gubernatorial candidate seeking the Democratic nomination, and co-sponsored by three other Democratic legislators.

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Mt Juliet Passes Ordinance Restricting Operation of Abortion Clinics Within Most of the City

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The opening of a controversial new women’s health clinic in Mt. Juliet, which offers abortion services, resulted in a special Sunday night meeting of the City Commission and a new zoning restriction that will block the clinic from operating at its current location. The Carafem clinic opened on Friday and community outrage was swift. Carafem is a nonprofit women’s health organization not affiliated with or connected to Planned Parenthood. It has other clinics located in Atlanta, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, according to the company. The action to amend the existing Mt. Juliet zoning ordinance-land development code concerning “professional ambulatory surgical treatment centers” passed by unanimous vote after strong opposition from the public, local pastors, and other community leaders demanding immediate action by the City (see map, right). Global Vision Bible Church Pastor Greg Locke and Tennessee Pastors Network President Dale Walker were among Tennessee pastors leading the fight against the clinic being allowed to offer abortions in Mt. Juliet. Debate over the ordinance drew a capacity crowd inside with dozens outside the meeting who were unable to get inside the Commission meeting. “This is a tremendous victory for the local community and for those of us committed to protecting unborn life,”…

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US Abortions Hit Lowest Number Ever Since Roe V. Wade

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by Grace Carr   The United States saw the lowest number of abortions ever reported between 2014 and 2015 since 1973’s Roe V. Wade legalized abortion, according to a Wednesday report. Between 2014 and 2015, the total number of reported abortions decreased two percent, falling to a rate of 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years, according to a Wednesday Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance report. A total of 638,169 abortions were reported in that year, according to the CDC. The report contains the most recent nationally representative data on abortion in the U.S. Between 2006 and 2015, the total number of reported abortions also decreased 24 percent, according to the report. Between 2006 and 2010, the number of reported abortions decreased by 19,280 per year. The number of reported abortions also fell between 2011 and 2015, decreasing by 23,087 per year, according to Wednesday’s report. White and black women accounted for the largest percentages of all abortions between 2014 and 2015, according to the report. Just over 14 percent of all women who obtained abortions in that year were married, while 85.7 percent were unmarried, according to the report. California, Maryland, and New Hampshire do not publicly report…

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