Recent actions in the states of New York and Virginia have heightened the continued debate on abortion. New Jersey is ready to ramp up it’s abortion efforts, all thanks to Gov Phil Murphy and Assembleman Vince Mazzeo.
NY Governor Cuomo, a Catholic Democrat, received a rousing ovation after he signed new abortion legislation, allowing abortion right up to the moment of birth.
Democratic lawmakers in Virginia, along with their Democrat Governor, are facing scrutiny for their efforts on removing the few remaining, abortion restrictions in that state. See video >
In 2014, 44,460 abortions were provided in New Jersey.
There were 79 abortion-providing facilities in New Jersey in 2014.
In 2014, the highest percentage of pregnancies were aborted in the District of Columbia (38%), New York (33%), and New Jersey (30%).
New Jersey has some of the least-restrictive abortion laws in the country.
Collective state abortion statistics are gathered privately by the Guttmacher Institute and federally by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Because of reporting lag, their most recent data is generally 2-3 years old.
- Among white women, 10% of pregnancies currently end in abortion.
- Among black women, 28% of pregnancies end in abortion (CDC).
- Black women were more than 3.5 times more likely to have an abortion in 2015 than white women (CDC).
Listen > WOND Listener feedback on abortion laws.
New Jersey Department of Health does not collect abortion data from private abortion clinics. As such, the state reported abortion totals for New Jersey are not reliable.
One of the only abortion restrictions in the state is a ban on so-called “partial birth” abortions after 12 weeks of gestation, but that was ruled unconstitutional and is thus unenforceable.
New Jersey does not require waiting periods, parental consent, forced ultrasounds, or other restrictions on patients.
Legal abortion is usually defined in terms of the mother’s convenience or health. Though few definitions mention the life or health of the fetus, many refer to its “viability” as a standard for when an abortion may be performed with impunity, and without further attempt to define the term.
- Public funding: Women who qualify for state medical assistance can obtain public funds for an abortion. Unlike other states, there’s no restrictions such as a medical justification.
Partial-Birth Abortion As Defined By Law
Partial-birth abortion. This phrase has been used in numerous state and federal bills and laws, although the legal definition of the term is not always the same. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act defines “partial-birth abortion” as follows:
An abortion in which the person performing the abortion, deliberately and intentionally vaginally delivers a living fetus until, in the case of a head-first presentation, the entire fetal head is outside the body of the mother, or, in the case of breech presentation, any part of the fetal trunk past the navel is outside the body of the mother, for the purpose of performing an overt act that the person knows will kill the partially delivered living fetus; and performs the overt act, other than completion of delivery, that kills the partially delivered living fetus.
(18 U.S. Code 1531)
Dr. Gosnell, America’s Biggest Serial Killer. Watch Video >
Philly.com: A judge has recommended yanking the medical license of a chain of abortion clinics in New Jersey. Ruling says nothing about the implications for those clinics, which the state Attorney General alleges were illegally transferred by discredited abortion provider Steven C. Brigham, whose record of botched procedures goes back decades in multiple states.
The Attorney General has alleged that Brigham sought to keep controlling and profiting from the clinics by transferring ownership, for no money, to a Mumbai-trained obstetrician-gynecologist who was disciplined in the mid-1990s for sexually abusing patients. H
AGI DATA (2014)
State by State Abortion Statistics (2014):
| State | Abortion Rate* | Total Abortions | % of Pregnancies Aborted | Abortion Facilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 8.3 | 8,020 | 12% | 9 |
| Alaska | 10 | 1,470 | 11% | 8 |
| Arizona | 9.8 | 12,870 | 13% | 12 |
| Arkansas | 8 | 4,590 | 11% | 4 |
| California | 19.5 | 157,350 | 24% | 512 |
| Colorado | 12.1 | 13,160 | 17% | 36 |
| Connecticut | 19.2 | 13,140 | 27% | 59 |
| Delaware | 16.7 | 3,010 | 22% | 6 |
| District of Columbia | 32.7 | 5,820 | 38% | 9 |
| Florida | 20.6 | 75,990 | 26% | 86 |
| Georgia | 15.7 | 33,000 | 20% | 28 |
| Hawaii | 14 | 3,760 | 17% | 29 |
| Idaho | 4.2 | 1,320 | 5% | 5 |
| Illinois | 16.3 | 42,270 | 21% | 40 |
| Indiana | 6.3 | 8,180 | 9% | 11 |
| Iowa | 7.5 | 4,380 | 10% | 13 |
| Kansas | 12.9 | 7,240 | 16% | 4 |
| Kentucky | 4.1 | 3,530 | 6% | 3 |
| Louisiana | 10.8 | 10,150 | 14% | 5 |
| Maine | 9.5 | 2,220 | 15% | 9 |
| Maryland | 23.4 | 28,140 | 28% | 41 |
| Massachusetts | 15.3 | 21,020 | 23% | 43 |
| Michigan | 15.4 | 29,120 | 20% | 29 |
| Minnesota | 9.3 | 9,760 | 12% | 11 |
| Mississippi | 3.8 | 2,290 | 6% | 2 |
| Missouri | 4.4 | 5,130 | 6% | 2 |
| Montana | 9.1 | 1,690 | 12% | 5 |
| Nebraska | 6.3 | 2,280 | 8% | 5 |
| Nevada | 19.4 | 10,970 | 23% | 13 |
| New Hampshire | 10.4 | 2,540 | 17% | 12 |
| New Jersey | 25.8 | 44,460 | 30% | 79 |
| New Mexico | 11.7 | 4,650 | 15% | 11 |
| New York | 29.6 | 119,940 | 33% | 218 |
| North Carolina | 15.1 | 29,960 | 20% | 37 |
| North Dakota | 8.7 | 1,260 | 10% | 1 |
| Ohio | 10.3 | 22,730 | 14% | 17 |
| Oklahoma | 7 | 5,330 | 9% | 5 |
| Oregon | 12 | 9,330 | 17% | 27 |
| Pennsylvania | 13.3 | 32,030 | 18% | 42 |
| Rhode Island | 17 | 3,580 | 25% | 5 |
| South Carolina | 6.4 | 6,040 | 9% | 7 |
| South Dakota | 3.5 | 550 | 4% | 2 |
| Tennessee | 10.7 | 13,880 | 15% | 11 |
| Texas | 9.8 | 55,230 | 12% | 44 |
| Utah | 4.6 | 2,960 | 5% | 6 |
| Vermont | 12.1 | 1,400 | 19% | 9 |
| Virginia | 12.5 | 21,080 | 17% | 34 |
| Washington | 13.7 | 19,230 | 18% | 50 |
| West Virginia | 6 | 2,020 | 9% | 5 |
| Wisconsin | 5.6 | 6,050 | 8% | 7 |
| Wyoming | 1.1 | 120 | 2% | 3 |
| United States | 14.6 | 926,240 | 19% | 1,671 |
*The abortion rate is the number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 years.