Abortion Rate In Louisiana Decreases By 4%

Abortions in the Bayou State have decreased by 4% from 2015 to 2016, according to numbers by the state Department of Health. Ben Clapper with Louisiana Right to Life says this is the second year in a row that abortion numbers have dropped.

“Every day in Louisiana in 2016, there is one baby that is living that would’ve been aborted in 2015. This is great news for our community.”

Nearly 9,000 abortions were performed in 2016 down from 9,300 in 2015 and just over 10,000 abortions reported in 2014. Clapper credits the decrease to more people valuing the life of an unborn child.

“I think our culture is continuing to realize through the use of ultrasound and more resources that the unborn child is valuable and should be protected in the womb.”

According to the data, women categorized as “nonwhite” accounted for 70% of abortions performed in 2016. Clapper says many women who had abortions last year were unmarried and 35 girls under the age of 15 had an abortion.

“These statistics tell us we need to make sure we’re offering these women what will really help them long term and that’s not abortion, that’s going to be choices like parenting and adoption.”

Louisiana Radio Network placed calls to Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights, but they went unreturned.