Abortions increased in Ohio last year for first time since 2012

The Columbus Dispatch

The number of abortions performed in Ohio rose 1 percent last year, the first increase in five years and only the second since 2000.

The 20,893 reported last year was 221 more than in 2016, according to an annual report released Friday by the Ohio Department of Health. The number had been declining since 2012, and despite the uptick remains far below a peak of more than 45,000 abortions in 1982.

Those on both sides of the abortion debate used the statistics to try and rally supporters – abortion-rights advocates fighting to keep the procedure legal and opponents seeking to outlaw it.

“This latest report is an absolute tragedy,” said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life.

“Last year, 20,893 babies were killed, and yet the abortion industry praises this as a win for ‘choice.’”

Gonidakis said abortion- rights advocates continue “to stall our pro-life legislation with frivolous litigation. Additionally, in Ohio currently, there are two abortion clinics that are recklessly operating outside of the bounds of our state laws. These clinics refuse to hold to basic health and safety standards, and as a result, women and their unborn children are victimized. These clinics must be closed.”

“We won’t be done until the abortion report reads ‘Zero. Nothing to report.’” Gonidakis vowed.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said the attack on abortion rights – 20 restrictions on the practice have been enacted by the GOP-dominated legislature and signed into law by Gov. John Kasich in the past seven years – underscores the importance of both the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court and the outcome of the upcoming gubernatorial election.

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“It is fitting that this report, which shows 20,893 people need and receive abortion care in Ohio annually, was released [Friday]. The outcome of the [Brett] Kavanaugh nomination and Ohio’s gubernatorial election will determine whether abortion is criminalized in Ohio in the next year,” Copeland said.

“If abortion is outlawed, 20,893 people would be forced to continue pregnancies against their will, or face criminal penalties for seeking the abortion care they need. Everyone deserves access to abortion without shame, stigma or threat of criminal prosecution.

“What happens in the next few weeks will determine what abortion access looks like in Ohio. Will this report say that no one was able to access the care they needed in Ohio?”

According to the report, 94 percent of abortions performed in the state were obtained by Ohio women. Three fourths of abortions were performed in Ohio’s three largest urban centers: Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties. The rest were done in Montgomery, Summit and Lucas counties.

Most abortions, 87 percent, were obtained by women ages 20 to 39. Roughly 1 in 10 women were under the age of 20.

About 85 percent of women who terminated their pregnancy last year were never married, divorced or widowed.

The report found that 86 percent of abortions, 17,868, were performed by 12 weeks of pregnancy. There were 454 abortions in 2017 involving pregnancies of 19 or more weeks of gestation, a decrease from the 508 reported in 2016.

In 26 procedures, women suffered complications including bleeding and incomplete abortion.