2007 South Dakota Abortion Statistics Released

The South Dakota Department of Health has now released the abortion statistics for 2007.

Abortionists are required by state law to record and report statistics on abortions performed in South Dakota.

The latest report showed some changes but no major ones.

The number of abortions performed in 2007 dropped by 7% to 707 from the previous year; that's 41 less lives taken in 2007 than in the previous year.

The reasons women gave for obtaining an abortion changed some, but not by any major factors.

As has been the case as long as statistics have been kept, the #1 reason for abortion in South Dakota is "The mother did not desire to have the child" at 83.2%. In 2006 it was 84.6%.

In South Dakota's latest abortion ban which was voted down last month, exceptions were provided for the life of the mother, the health of the mother, rape and incest. In 2007, only 1.7% were done for the reason "The mother would suffer substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function if the pregnancy continued;" requirements to demonstrate this risk are not currently clearly defined as they were in the 2008 bill. Rape and incest abortions made up 1.7% of the total; in 2006 the number was 0.4%.

The statistics indicated that in 2007 "fetal abnormalities" were present in 1.3% of the abortions. The report does not elaborate on the nature and severity of these abnormalities.

Most of the abortions (225) were done at 8 weeks gestation. At this stage of development, the unborn child has a beating heart, blood is flowing through their veins, and the eyes and lungs and arms and legs and fingers and toes are starting to form. Evidence is growing that unborn children may feel pain at as little as 7 weeks development. A little more than 1% of the abortions in 2007 were done at 14 weeks or more.

Many of the abortions done in 2007 were repeat abortions, with 21.1% having had one previous abortion and 8.3% having had more than one previous abortion.

Some 309, or 44%, of abortions in 2007 were performed on women with no living children, and 5% done on women with four or more living children.

Clearly the overwhelming majority of abortions in South Dakota are still being done as retroactive birth control. Obviously more needs to be done to save the lives of over 700 children a year being sacrificed on the altar of convenience.