CDC Gained’t Launch Up to date Abortion Figures Till Subsequent Yr
Thanksgiving week is an interesting week for those in the pro-life movement. That is because we eagerly anticipate the release of updated abortion data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Indeed, every year since 2011, the CDC has maintained the odd practice of releasing updated abortion data the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
The timing reduces the amount of media coverage the new abortion data receive. However, the CDC data often provide pro-lifers with useful information about abortion trends and the impact of various state-level pro-life laws.
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Last week, the CDC failed to release updated abortion data. A Live Action News article on this topic by Carole Novielli included a statement from HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard indicating that former CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry was responsible for the delay.
Houry directed CDC staff to return state-submitted abortion data instead of analyzing it. Hilliard added that the issue is being addressed and that the CDC plans to release updated abortion data sometime in the spring of 2026.
The delay is disappointing. The most recent abortion data available from the CDC are from 2022. As such, there is no CDC abortion data from any full year after the Dobbs decision. …
The CDC has not reported any abortion data from California since 1997, and it frequently does not report data from Maryland and New Hampshire. For some states, there are large discrepancies between the abortion data released by the CDC and the abortion data released by the Guttmacher Institute. Additionally, the data on demographics of women who obtain abortions could also be more complete.
Better abortion data could provide extremely valuable information about the impact of a range of public policy choices. … As such, people on all sides of the abortion debate should eagerly support more timely and more detailed abortion data from the CDC.
LifeNews Note: Michael J. New is a Research Associate at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America and is an associate scholar at the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_J_New
