Dr. Michael New of the Charlotte Lozier Institute says one aspect of the latest numbers from the Guttmacher Institute, which describes itself as "a leading research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights in the United States," has to do with paying for abortions.
"When it was a woman from a liberal state, a very high percentage (42%) of those abortions are paid for by Medicaid. Less than 1% of women from conservative states have their abortions paid for by Medicaid," he relays. "That's not surprising [because] most Medicaid programs in conservative states don't cover abortions."
He finds it interesting that women in liberal states generally think it is easier to pay for their abortions than women from conservative states do. His takeaway is the states that limit abortion funding in their Medicaid programs are paying dividends.
"Back in 2014, about 27% of abortions were performed on African American women. That increased to about a third of all abortions in 2021-2022," Dr. New reports. "I think what it really shows is that our outreach efforts to teenagers have been effective, because their abortion numbers are falling. But we need to think about more creative ways to engage both African American women and Hispanic women."
Meanwhile, the vast majority of abortion clinics are located close to or in minority neighborhoods.
