The following comes from a December 17 story on LifeSiteNews.com.

National and state abortion reporting laws and policies in the United States are a patchwork that falls far short of fulfilling the potential of this information to inform and guide public policy….

Some states with large numbers of abortions – for example, California and Maryland – have not produced a public, statewide abortion report in years or do not publish one at all….

Since 1969, four years before the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have published an annual report on the incidence of abortion in the United States.

This report is based on data submitted by the majority, but by no means all, of the political jurisdictions in the United States.  In 2009, for example – the most recent year for which CDC has published a report – CDC requested abortion reports from 52 jurisdictions, that is, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City.  Forty-eight of these jurisdictions provided data to the CDC (one fewer than 2008), but only 45 of them have consistently done so since 1999, restricting the trend analysis CDC is able to perform.  The submission of these reports by the states, D.C., and New York City is completely voluntary.

Besides the CDC, the only other source for national abortion data in the United States is the private, independent nonprofit Guttmacher Institute.  Named for the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America from 1962-74, Alan F. Guttmacher, M.D., the Institute obtains survey data directly from abortion providers, including those with which it was formerly affiliated as the research arm of Planned Parenthood.  This history has permitted the Institute to obtain information that, though voluntarily submitted like that from the CDC’s reporting areas, is far more complete than the federal data.  The average undercount for CDC data is shown in Table 1.

 

Federal Undercount of U.S. Abortions: 1999-2009

 

YearCDC SurveillanceGuttmacher% CDC Undercount
2009784,507
2008825,5641,212,40031.9
2007827,6091,209,60031.6
2006846,1811,242,00031.7
2005820,1511,206,20032
2004839,2261,222,10031.3
2003848,1631,250,00032.1
2002854,1221,269,00032.7
2001853,4851,291,00033.9
2000857,4751,313,00034.7
1999861,7891,314,80034.5

 

Jurisdictions that continue to make abortion reporting voluntary include, however, several that report some of the highest abortion rates in the United States, significantly affecting the quality and utility of national abortion data through public sources.  These jurisdictions are California, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and New Hampshire.  Most of these states rank among the top ten nationally in their abortion rates: California (6th), the District of Columbia (4th), Maryland (5th), New Jersey (3rd), and New Hampshire (31st-tie).

 

General Features of Abortion Reporting Laws
Mandatory reporting?Publicly available?Annual report released?Latest annual report availableInternet reporting available?Include medical abortions?
ALMandatoryYesYes2011NoNo
AKMandatoryYesYes2011No
AZMandatoryYesYes2010YesNo
ARMandatoryYesYes2011NoYes
CAVoluntaryNoNo
COMandatoryYesYes2005NoYes
CTMandatoryNoNoNoNo
DEMandatoryYesYes2009NoYes
DCVoluntaryYesYes2009NoYes
FLMandatoryYesYes2008Yes
GAMandatoryYesYes2010YesYes
HIMandatoryNoNo2009
IDMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
ILMandatoryYesYes2010YesNo
INMandatoryYesYes2011YesYes
IAMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
KSMandatoryYesYes2011NoYes
KYMandatoryYes2005NoYes
LAMandatoryYesYes2009NoNo
MEMandatoryNoYes2009NoYes
MDHas not collected data since 2006YesNo2006No
MAMandatoryNoNo
MIMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
MNMandatoryYesYes2011NoYes
MSMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
MOMandatoryYesYes2009No
MTMandatoryNoYes2010
NEMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
NVMandatoryYesYes2009NoYes
NHVoluntaryNoNo
NJVoluntary
NMMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
NYMandatoryYesYes2010No
NCMandatoryYesYes2011NoYes
NDMandatoryYesYes2011NoYes
OHMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
OKMandatoryYesYes2007NoNo
ORMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
PAMandatoryYesYes2009
RIMandatoryNoYes2010No
SCMandatoryYesYes2008NoYes
SDMandatoryYesYes2009NoYes
TNMandatoryYesYes2010NoNo
TXMandatoryYesYes2010NoNo
UTMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
VTMandatoryYesYes2009NoYes
VAMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
WAMandatoryYesYes2010NoYes
WVMandatoryYesYes2009NoYes
WIMandatoryYesYes2011No
WYMandatoryNo

 

Forty-four of the 50 states compile and publish annual reports providing an array of information, most commonly the total number of abortions, the gestational age of the developing child, the number of previous abortions, the abortion method, and the provider type.  The six states that publish no annual reports again include some with the highest abortions rates in the country (California, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland)….

For complete story, click here.