GREENSBORO, N.C. — We have 100 counties in our state, but there are only nine counties where clinics offer some form of abortion services:
Guilford, Forsyth, Mecklenburg, Orange, Wake, Durham, Buncombe, New Hanover, and Cumberland Counties.
According to NorthCarolinaHealthNews.org, an independent, not-for-profit organization, Mecklenburg had the highest abortion rates for residents of the county. While Cumberland County, while small, had an elevated rate as well.
NorthCarolinaHealthNews.org looked at the most recent stats and found 2019 data was the most complete.
In that data, NCHN found there were 143,004 pregnancies in the state in 2019. Of those, some 23,495 were terminated through an abortion procedure. That's about 16%.
Abortion rates in North Carolina have been going down over the last 20 years, not up. The data used was the population of people who can get pregnant and are of childbearing age. With that in mind, here’s how the stats look:
- In 2000, the abortion rate was 15 people per 1,000 people
- In 2010, that rate was down to 13 people per 1,000 people.
- In 2019, the abortion rate was 11 people per 1,000, and it has remained roughly stable over the last five years.
All of this is being looked at after a document was leaked which could lead to the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe v. Wade.
A new leaked report suggests the Supreme Court's conservative majority will strike down the 1973 landmark case that legalized abortion.
While this is just a draft opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed Tuesday the leaked document is real. Though just a draft, it could point to a big shift in abortion rights across the country in the near future.