No, People are Not Moving Out of Pro-Life States Because of Abortion Bans

The Center for Reproductive Justice (CRJ) has long been one of the most radical pro-abortion advocacy organizations in the United States, relentlessly pushing for abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy. Their extremist position, which includes opposition to all reasonable limitations on abortion—even late-term procedures performed on viable babies—has placed them at the forefront of legal battles against common-sense protections for the unborn.

Recently, CRJ has amplified claims that states with strong pro-life laws are experiencing a population decline due to their abortion bans. They are currently running digital campaigns using focus-grouped and professionally developed slick images. These assertions, however, are not backed by any conclusive evidence and appear to be part of a broader disinformation strategy – as is their custom.  These are a sampling of their still ads.

Misinformation has always been CRJ’s bread and butter. Founded in 1992, CRJ has consistently fought against any pro-life legislative protections, including laws requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortion, bans on gruesome partial-birth abortions, and even limits on taxpayer-funded abortion.

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Despite claiming to advocate for “reproductive justice,” CRJ has remained silent on the countless cases of coerced abortions, the abortion industry’s exploitation of minors, and the harms of abortion to women, including higher rates of mental health struggles, regret, and physical complications.

Now, this same organization is attempting to push another false narrative—that pro-life laws are driving people away from states that uphold the dignity of life.

CRJ and its allies recently seized on a study from the Georgia Institute of Technology and the College of Wooster, claiming that pro-life states are experiencing population loss due to abortion bans. However, a closer look at the study exposes significant flaws in their argument:

There is no direct evidence that abortion laws are the cause of migration. Their study relies on U.S. Postal Service change-of-address data, which tracks who is moving but does not capture why they are moving. They disregard the fact that people move for a variety of reasons – jobs, crime rates, cost of living and family considerations – not just because of pro-life laws.

Additionally, they provide zero proof that people are moving to pro-abortion states. The study does not show that people leaving pro-life states are specifically relocating to states with pro-abortion laws. In fact, many pro-life states, such as Texas, Florida, and Tennessee, have continued to experience strong population growth. Meanwhile, states with radical abortion policies – like California, Illinois, and New York are hemorrhaging populations due to high taxes, poor governance, and crime.

Lastly, the Georgia Institute of Technology relies on the flawed economic argument from the Turnaway Study, which has erroneously claimed that pro-life laws cause financial hardship. The Turnaway Study is a small, non-representative sample size of women from pre-determined abortion clinics that began in 2008. It failed to account for socioeconomic factors unrelated to abortion, such as pre-existing poverty and lack of support systems.

The Center for Reproductive Justice is not interested in facts – they never have been. Their extreme pro-abortion stance is out of touch with the majority of Americans, who support common-sense limits on abortion. Their latest claims about migration from pro-life states are baseless, relying on incomplete data and ignoring the broader economic and social trends driving people’s decisions to relocate. In other words, lies are all the CRJ ever has.

LifeNews.com Note: Raimundo Rojas is the director of Outreach Director for the National Right to Life Committee. He is a former president of Florida Right to Life and has presented the pro-life message to millions in Spanish-language media outlets. He represents NRLC at the United Nations as an NGO. Rojas was born in Santiago de las Vegas, Havana, Cuba and he and his family escaped to the United States in 1968.