37 Years after Legalized Abortion

January 22, 2010, marks the 37^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. In 1973, the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton court decisions legalized abortion on demand in America. Since then, women have legally terminated their pregnancies throughout all nine months for any reason. However, on April 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court finally upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion Act. This was a monumental step for the Pro-Life movement.

Chuck Colson of BreakPoint commented, “It took thirty-four years to get from Roe v. Wade to the first significant restriction of so-called ‘abortion rights.’ It’s a reminder that when it comes to eradicating social ills, we must never give up.” He went on to compare this victory with British Parliamentarian William Wilberforce’s victory in slowing the British slave trade. His victory came when he was able to pass legislation in 1788 that restricted the number of slaves that a ship was allowed to carry based on the ship’s tonnage.

This victory, although small, proved that the slave trade was vulnerable, just as our victory against partial-birth abortion proves that the abortion industry is vulnerable. Mr. Wilberforce, after almost 20 years of fighting, was eventually successful in abolishing the slave trade. Twenty-five years after that, slavery was abolished all together. We too—with patience, prayers, hard work, and diligence—eventually will be successful in abolishing the practice of abortion.

According to the most recent abortion records at The Alan Guttmacher Institute (the research branch of Planned Parenthood), 1.21 million abortions were reported in 2005, representing a slight decrease from 1.22 million in 2004. Unfortunately, the government does not require that abortions be reported; therefore, truly accurate numbers on abortion are not available. While the national abortion numbers are dropping slightly, so many lives, including women and their unborn children, still need protection.

The abortion numbers in Texas have increased by about 1% from 77,811 in 2007 to 78,330 in 2008. We pray that our educational efforts and the hard work of pregnancy resource centers will help empower women to choose life. We also pray that next year’s 82^nd Legislative session will be successful in passing legislation that will continue to spread the Culture of Life across Texas.

Currently, Texas is the 6^th most Pro-Life state in the country, according to the 2009 Americans United for Life National Pro-Life State Analysis. These rankings are based on our Pro-Life legislature, public assistance to pregnant women, as well as the Pro-Life legislation that has been enacted.

YEAR	ABORTIONS	Annual Reduction Since 1990	% Reduction Since 1990	Total Lives Saved Since 1990	Abortion Rate	Abortion Ratio	Abortion Percent
1990	90,051
1991	87,679	2,372	2.63	2,372
1992	87,230	2,821	3.13	5,193
1993	86,360	3,691	4.10	8,884
1994	83,823	6,228	6.92	15,112
1995	83,419	6,632	7.36	21,744
1996	87,677	2,374	2.64	24,118
1997	81,526	8,525	9.47	32,643
1998	78,887	11,164	12.40	43,807
1999	77,291	12,760	14.17	56,567
2000	73,155	16,896	18.76	73,463	15.8	201.3	16.7
2001	74,101	15,950	17.71	89,413	15.5	203.0	16.8
2002	76,278	13,773	15.29	103,186	15.6	204.8	16.9
2003	76,019	14,032	15.58	117,218	15.4	201.4	16.7
2004	72,441	17,610	19.56	134,828	14.6	189.9	15.9
2005	74,399	15,652	17.38	150,480	14.8	193.0	16.1
2006	79,041	11,010	12.22	161,490	15.4	197.9	16.4
2007	77,811	12,240	13.60	173,730
2008	78,330	11,721	13.02	185,451