Tessa Longbons

Nebraska’s annual abortion report for 2017, published online by the state Department of Health and Human Services, was published ahead of schedule in April 2018. Nebraska was the fifth state to release its abortion report for 2017, further indication that prompt reporting of annual data is feasible.

West Virginia’s abortion report for 2015, comprising five pages in the state’s annual vital statistics report, was released online in March 2018. The report is compiled by the state Department of Health and Human Services.

Louisiana was the third state to publish its abortion report for 2017. The preliminary 2017 report was released online by the Louisiana Department of Health in February 2018; however, one of the tables contained errors regarding the gestational ages of the babies killed by abortion, and the corrected report was not published until April 2018. The report shows that abortion in the state has fallen for the third year in a row.

The most recent statistics published by the Virginia Department of Health show that abortion in the state is falling. Virginia releases its abortion data in three separate reports: an abortion report, a report of abortions by facility, and the state vital statistics report.

Kansas released its preliminary abortion report on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment website in April 2018, becoming the fourth state to publish its report for data from 2017. The report shows that while abortion in the state is falling, Kansas continues to be a destination for out-of-state women seeking abortion.

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In a CLI study of state abortion reporting, Utah’s reports ranked in the top ten among the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and New York City. Still, the state has room for improvement. Utah could release its reports more quickly – 36 states published their 2016 reports before Utah did, and some have begun to release their 2017 reports. Utah could also collect and report information on its informed consent and parental consent processes. The state already reports comprehensive information on resident women who get abortions but could add information on all women undergoing abortion in the state, including the 97 women from Idaho.

Florida’s annual abortion report for 2017 shows that the abortion count in the state has fallen from the year before. The Sunshine State is one of the first to make abortion statistics publicly available each year, demonstrating once again the ability of public officials to provide timelier data than is common among other states and the federal government.

Iowa’s 2016 vital statistics report, which includes seven pages of information on abortions performed in the state, was released on schedule this past December. Published by the Iowa Department of Public Health, the report reveals that total abortions in Iowa continue to go down, while chemical abortions are on the rise.

Pennsylvania’s 2016 abortion report was published by the state Department of Health in December 2017. Additional abortion statistics for Pennsylvania residents are included in the state’s annual vital statistics report. Overall, total abortions in Pennsylvania continued to decline in 2016, while total chemical abortions increased.