by Anthony Gockowski
The Minnesota Department of Health released two-years’ worth of abortion data Friday, correcting an abortion clinic’s 2020 reporting error.
The state reports that there were 10,339 abortions in 2020 and 10,136 abortions in 2021.
The state Department of Health releases a report each July with abortion data from the prior year. However, the report for 2020 was inaccurate because Whole Woman’s Health failed to report 1,231 abortions to the state.
MDH blamed this reporting error on staffing issues at the clinic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but pro-life organizations are suspicious.
“The credibility of this report must be questioned. How can we trust information from MDH when there was no effort last year to pursue legal remedies for clear violations of Minnesota’s reporting law?” said Brian Gibson, executive director of Pro-Life Action Ministries.
He also pointed out that the MDH report doesn’t appear to contain any data on “Just the Pill,” an abortion group that was launched in the summer of 2020 to provide mail-order and mobile-abortion services.
“We just do not know if every abortion organization is sending in their complete reports or reporting at all,” said Gibson. “With MDH failing to fine Whole Woman’s, in accord with Minnesota law, for missing information for the 2020 report, they incentivize noncompliance. What else is not being reported? Mail-order abortions? Did Just the Pill even send in a report?”
The MDH report shows that medical abortions are now more common than surgical abortions. Last year, 6,154 abortions were performed using medications, either mifipristone or misoprostol.
“This is concerning because medication abortions carry unique risks for women and have become much easier to obtain due to pandemic-era rules on virtual prescriptions,” said John Helmberger, CEO of Minnesota Family Council.
The majority of abortions (5,499) in 2021 were performed because the woman did “not want children at this time.” Another 3,579 women refused to provide a reason. The third most-common reason (1,346) was “economic” issues. There were 55 abortions performed because the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest, representing 0.5% of total abortions.
“Let’s be clear: abortion is an atrocity that always takes the life of a child in the womb, and often results in lasting physical and emotional harm to a woman,” Helmberger added. “Even as the Supreme Court issues a historic ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson clarifying that there is no right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution, abortionists in Minnesota are doubling down and increasing capacity for both surgical and medication abortions, intent on making our state an abortion mecca.”
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Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and reported for The Daily Caller.
Photo “Stop Abortion Bans Rally in St Paul, Minnesota” by Lorie Shaull. CC BY-SA 2.0.
