Each week AFL posts an Anglicans in Action video, which gives practical suggestions, resources, and ideas for life-ministry. This week’s focus is safeguarding those in nursing homes. You can see all the Anglicans in Action videos on our YouTube Channel.

You may have seen the news recently, where it has been reported that the abortion rate in America has reached it’s lowest point since Roe v. Wade was passed, legalizing abortion – the CDC reported that there has been a 2 percent drop in abortions since 2014, along with the statistic of abortion declining 54 percent among teenagers since 2006. Most pro-abortion advocates attribute this to the use of contraception and progressive sex education, while some pro-life advocates attribute this to the work that is being done in pregnancy centers, through sidewalk counseling, and sexual risk avoidance programs. While both theories may be true, the truth is that we don’t know why the abortion rates have decreased. In actuality, it probably is a combination of reasons and not just a single strategy that is causing this impact.

First, praise God for this report! We are rejoicing with the women who have chosen life for their unborn babies and we are so thankful the pro-life advocates that relentlessly fight for life.

But, we also have to acknowledge the facts that this report doesn’t make any mention of. There are no reporting standards for abortion procedures in many states. The CDC report that seems hopeful for the pro-life movement is actually incomplete. Reporting abortion numbers to the CDC is optional, not mandatory. There are states that do not report their numbers at all and then there are some that provide very limited data. In fact, the state that performs the most abortions, California, is not included in the report at all. There are also no record of complications resulting for abortions, likely because those instances are shoved under the mat to protect the offending abortion clinic’s reputation. We have no idea how many women are physically hurt by abortions, and for me, that’s a scary reality.

Unfortunately, it can’t be assumed that these statistics are accurate. The number of babies lost in abortion are most certainly higher than they’ve been reported to be, but we have no idea of knowing what a factual estimate is.

The action item for this week is to contact your local U.S. Legislator and encourage them to pass a bill for standardized reporting of abortions. If these are considered medical procedures by the medical community and the government, we need to be mandating them as such. If we can get the word out to the government that we don’t think that this is okay, it could begin a chain reaction that will benefit women’s health for the better and protect unborn babies by better allowing us know how to engage in the fight for life.