Grand Rapids, MI — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released the 2018 Michigan abortion report earlier this year. Michigan residents receiving abortions declined by 203, from 25,757 in 2017 to 25,554 in 2018.
Abortions performed in Michigan increased in 2018, with an additional 325 women from other states traveling to Michigan to have abortions (1,162 total).
Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing said, “It’s always good when fewer Michigan women have abortions. However, it’s tragic there are still so many children whose lives and futures are being taken from them.”
The number of dismemberment abortions (D&E) increased in Michigan by 7 percent. There were 1,908 dismemberment abortions in 2018, compared to 1,777 in 2017.
Listing said, “Our petition drive to ban the dismemberment abortion procedure is needed to help save lives. It’s wrong that a child in the womb can have their arms and legs ripped off. Such a barbaric act tarnishes the practice of medicine.”
A majority of the decline in Michigan resident abortions occurred in the city of Detroit. There were 6,061 abortions on Detroit residents in 2018, compared to 6,181 in 2017. In recent years, Right to Life of Michigan has given grants to pregnancy centers in Detroit and created a website listing pregnancy and childcare-related help organizations in Detroit: HelpintheD.org.
Listing said, “We hope our efforts have helped save those 120 lives, and we will continue to support our prolife pregnancy centers in the area as they offer women life-giving options.”
Despite the Detroit decrease, abortions performed on Black women remain tragically high. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 14.1 percent of Michigan’s population is Black, yet a majority of abortions in Michigan were performed on Black women in 2018 (50.1 percent).
Listing said, “Many people are shocked to learn that abortion has taken more Black lives than every other cause of death combined since 1973. As long as the abortion industry continues to target Black women with messages that their children are obstacles to their lives or our society, we’ll continue to offer them alternatives and hope.”
There have been 1,247,737 reported induced abortions in Michigan since 1980, when reporting first began. Abortions in Michigan have declined 45.6 percent from their high in 1987.
Right to Life of Michigan used a petition drive in 1987 to initiate our ban on Medicaid tax-funded abortions in the state. The law went into effect on December 12, 1988. Abortions decreased by 22 percent in 1989. Using that figure, our ban on Medicaid-funded abortions has saved 236,965 lives and counting since 1989.
Listing said, “Prolife laws save lives. We’re going to continue efforts to protect every unborn child’s basic human right to life. We mourn every life lost to abortion, but we celebrate every person alive today thanks to the efforts of prolife volunteers around the state and the mothers who chose life.”