Claims that criminalizing abortion does not reduce the number of abortions are widespread, but they conflict with observed outcomes. When abortion restrictions or bans are implemented, comparisons between jurisdictions with restrictions and those without them show that birth rates increase after the restrictions take effect. That increase indicates that children who otherwise would have been aborted are instead being born.
This pattern is not new or dependent on the end of Roe. Even before states were permitted to ban abortion outright, restrictive abortion policies were associated with fewer abortions. A national study published in 2021 examined a range of state-level abortion restrictions—including policies short of bans—during a period when banning abortion was still prohibited. The study found that such restrictions were associated with not having an abortion at all. On this account, the effect of criminalization and restriction is not a matter of opinion or moral intuition but an empirical finding: restricting or banning abortion reduces the number of abortions that occur.
Key Takeaways
Higher birth rates following abortion restrictions show that fewer pregnancies end in abortion and more children are born.
The effect existed even before abortion bans were allowed, demonstrating that restrictions meaningfully reduce abortions.
Peer-reviewed national research links restrictive abortion policies to lower abortion incidence, independent of personal beliefs.
If laws that restrict abortion lead to fewer abortions, then criminalization functions as a life-saving policy, preventing the deaths of unborn human beings.