The AP reports that abortions dropped by 30% in Minnesota in 2004, a year after passage of the Women's Right to Know Act. The new law requires abortion providers to give information about medical risks, potential fetal pain, and assistance options to women seeking abortions, and imposes a 24-hour waiting period. In its first year of application, abortions dropped to their lowest level in 30 years:

The number of abortions in Minnesota dropped to a 30-year low in the first full year after the state passed a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions. ...

The number of abortions in 2004 dipped to 13,788, the lowest level since 1975, the first year the state Health Department started tallying the numbers. The department has been reporting annual abortion figures to the Legislature for the past five years.

The number of abortions in the state has been falling since it peaked in 1980 at more than 19,000 -- a curve that mimics a national trend. And the drop transcends shifting demographics: Minnesota's rate of abortions among women in their childbearing years (classified as ages 15 through 44) also has been on the decline.

This year, the Health Department reported on the actual numbers of women who applied for abortions (15,859) and the number that eventually received the procedure (13,788). The new law appears to explain the difference of 2,071 women who did not abort their children. Abortion-rights activists dispute that informed consent has anything to do with the gap, but while correlation does not necessarily prove causation, the size of the difference certainly suggests some impact from the new law.

Either way, the data shows that more than 2,000 babies made it into the world that, had the waiting period not existed, would have never been born at all. Even those who argue for abortion rights under the "safe but rare" slogan should cheer that result.

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» Abortions reach 30-year low in Minnesota from ProLifeBlogs
The number of abortions in Minnesota dropped to a 30-year low in the first full year after the state passed a 24-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions. The number of abortions in 2004 dipped to 13,788, the lowest level... [Read More]

Tracked on July 14, 2005 8:17 PM

» Abortions in Minnesota reach 30-year low from Danny Carlton (aka Jack Lewis)
From Duluth News Tribune: The number of abortions in Minnesota dropped to a 30-year low in the first full year... [Read More]

Tracked on July 15, 2005 6:59 AM