Abortion in New Jersey

The Leading Cause of Death

Abortion continues to be one of the most controversial issues debated in the public policy arena. It is not classified as a crime because our Supreme Court has ruled it legal. It is not classified as a disease, yet, year after year, when all age groups including the very young are considered, abortion is responsible for more deaths than heart disease and cancer combined.

In the world, approximately 50 million women each year have an abortion. In the United States, approximately 1.5 million women each year have an abortion. And in New Jersey ...

Abortion in New Jersey

No one really knows how many abortions are performed in New Jersey - according to the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services, abortions in private doctor's offices and clinics are rarely reported to State health authorities. The Department keeps a record of abortions performed in hospitals and "registered" clinics; these numbers are available but not published. The NJFPC obtained the reported numbers for 1989, 1991, and 1993 directly from the Department. The numbers for earlier years are based on the live births reported by the State (Center for Health Statistics, New Jersey Health Statistics - 1993 , July 1996, Table N17, Page 36) factored by the live birth to abortion ratio during 1991 and 1993. It is safe to say that these numbers are a fraction of the actual number of abortions performed in New Jersey, but it is unsafe to derive any trend conclusions for the same reason.

In 1993, over 20% of the abortions in New Jersey were performed after the first trimester (after 12 weeks of pregnancy). Over 400 abortions were performed late-term (after 21 weeks).

In 1993, almost 20% of the abortions in New Jersey were performed on mothers less than 20 years old. The largest percentage (over 57%) were performed on mothers between 20 and 29 years of age.

In 1993, over 80% of the mothers who obtained an abortion in New Jersey were unmarried. The CDC reports a similar figure (79% in 1992) for the abortions nationwide (National Center for Health Statistics, Health, United States, 1995. Table 15, page 94.)

An Alan Guttmacher Institute survey, carried on nationwide at 13 hospitals and 87 clinics, and encompassing almost 10,000 women who had obtained an abortion, found that pregnancies which occur outside of wedlock account for approximately 80% of the abortions in the United States (Stanley K. Henshaw and Kathryn Kost, "Abortion Patients in 1994-1995: Characteristics and Contraceptive Use", Family Planning Perspectives , Volume 28, No. 4, July/August 1996.)

In 1992 almost 45% of the abortions performed in the United States were on women who had already had a previous abortion. Almost 20% of the abortions were performed on mothers who had already had two or more previous abortions.

The NJFPC Viewpoint

Some of us believe that life begins before conception, that it begins in the mind of God before it enters the womb of the mother. Some of us believe that life begins when a fetus is viable outside of the womb. Some of us believe that life begins at birth. Because of our different beliefs, it has been difficult to achieve consensus on abortion policy. However, most of us would agree that it is wrong to murder a healthy baby during the birth process; yet, we stand by while partial-birth abortions are performed thousands of times each year. Has our Country lost its conscience?

More American lives have been lost in the womb than on all the battlefields of all the wars of all the centuries. As a nation, we have chosen abortion over self control, over chastity, over honor. Our public policy should respond to this state of depravity. When the Court-manufactured "right to privacy" was elevated over the God-given right to life, the Supreme Court did not know that 30,000,000 lives would be aborted in the United States alone. Today, we know that the character of the Nation is inadequate to deal with the choices we have been given.

The Government has granted this right to choose; it is not one of those inalienable rights for which men have fought and died. The Government must now take responsibility to set the parameters which govern the exercise of that right. No abortion should be performed in the United States unless a woman first receives counseling on its long-term psychological impact. No abortion should be performed unless a women is told the truth about the health risks involved. No abortion should be performed on a minor without written parental consent and counseling. No abortion should be performed unless a woman knows about her alternate choice for prenatal care and adoption. Our public policy should discourage abortion and insure that a mother is informed about all of the alternatives.

We will not be able to achieve these objectives without recognizing that we face formidable opposition. Since the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision, the abortion industry has grown to multi-billion dollar annual revenues. This industry does not want to see the number of abortions decrease, and, with all the power and influence concomitant with a multi-billion dollar income, it strives to insure that women remain ignorant of the health risks or the long-term psychological impact of abortion. It makes certain that the local abortion clinics have services, prices, and location advertised at web sites like this one, while care centers for pregnant women and adoption agencies struggle for survival. It lobbies to ensure that parental notification is not required for teenagers to receive an abortion. It spreads misinformation to make us believe that abortion is somehow a medical necessity and should qualify for health insurance and Medicaid benefits. In short, this industry is not satisfied that abortion is legal; it wants abortion to be expedient, frequent, and paid for by someone else. It is in the business of removing all obstacles from the path to abortion and all truth from the public debate.

No matter what we believe about the beginning of life, we must recognize that our society is making choices that were once outside of our power to choose, and that the choices that we make today will have significant direct and indirect impacts on the future of our society. The NJFPC echoes the admonition of Moses: "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore CHOOSE LIFE, that both you and your descendants may live."
(Deuteronomy 30:19)