2024 PA Abortion Statistics Review: Good News in Pennsylvania
Hi friends. Today’s episode is a review of the 2024 abortion statistics released last week by the PA Department of Health. As our friends at the Pennsylvania Family Institute put it, the report is a “sobering mix of tragedy and triumph.” In 2024, there were 32,946 abortions performed in PA. The good news is that’s a decrease of 7% from the year before. However, it’s still a horrific number, and averages, sadly, to 91 babies each day.
Other good news is that locally, the number of Lancaster County residents who had abortions dropped 14% from 888 to 761. For Lebanon County, it was reported that 137 residents chose abortion in 2024, a decrease of 30% from the prior year.
According to the report, use of the abortion pill still accounts for 56% of all abortions in our state. Those pills target preborn children 10 weeks old and younger, and they took the lives of more than 18,000 preborn Pennsylvania babies in 2024.
Something to keep in mind about these statistics is that to the best of our knowledge, they do not track “self-managed” abortions – meaning, those women have from ordering the abortion pill online and taking it outside of a doctor’s oversight or knowledge. Although reported abortions are down in Pennsylvania, abortion numbers in our nation have been generally on the rise since the overturn of Roe vs Wade in 2022.
We mourn for the lives harmed and we grieve its unfathomable negative impact, especially on the heart of God. Yet our God is a God of redemption. Knowing our nation’s seemingly ongoing thirst for abortion no matter what, He took decisive action to free us from bondage when He sent His son Jesus to pay the price for our sins and rescue us from darkness. Where would we be without His truth from Romans 5:20: “…Where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” The evil of abortion is no match for God’s enormous grace. We get a glimpse of His grace through the fact that He has His Church, pregnancy centers, sidewalk advocates, pro-life political groups, and many other life-honoring organizations in place to help those who are abortion vulnerable—even as we speak.
To God be the glory!