(LifeSiteNews) — Abortions in Florida have reportedly dropped by 12,100 from 2023 to 2024, by far the sharpest decrease by state in the U.S.
According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, Florida experienced a sharp drop in abortion after the six-week ban that took effect in 2024. Whereas the state’s number of abortions totaled 85,770 in 2023, it decreased to 73,710 by 2024.
This decline in the number of preborn babies killed that year contrasts with the rest of the U.S., where several states saw increased abortions in 2024, and a few states saw a slight decrease.
Guttmacher’s report, released Tuesday, only uses data from states that have not imposed a total ban after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
Florida’s heartbeat law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April 2023, bans abortions after six weeks except in cases of rape or incest or allegedly for the mother’s life or health, in which case an abortion is permitted until 15 weeks’ gestation.
Pro-lifers, however, affirm that every child is deserving of human rights from the moment of conception, regardless of the circumstances of his or her birth. Abortion – the destruction of an unborn child – is never justifiable or is it medically necessary to preserve a woman’s life or health, as medical experts have attested.
Furthermore, 73,710 babies were still killed through abortion in Florida in 2024. Unlike the numbers reported by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration, the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute’s study accounted for procedural and medication abortions provided at health facilities as well as medication abortions provided via telehealth and online providers.
The 2024 drop in Florida abortions includes a substantial decline in abortions from out-of-state mothers, who made up a sizable portion of the Sunshine state’s baby-killing procedures. In 2023, an estimated 9,000 women traveled to Florida for an abortion, including many from states in the South with tight abortion restrictions.
Planned Parenthood centers alone had an 80% decline in out-of-state mothers seeking abortion in May 2024 compared with May 2023.
Unfortunately, the Guttmacher Institute’s 2024 data found that across the nation overall abortions rose almost 1% in 2024. This is due in large part to the distribution of abortion pills by mail, including across state lines and into jurisdictions where abortion pills are illegal.
Such abortion medication continues to effectively undermine state abortion bans and will continue to do so until pill distribution is shut down at the national level.