By Holly Gatling, Executive Director, South Carolina Citizens for Life
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Abortions occurring in South Carolina increased by 997 (or 16 percent) in 2022 over 2021 according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) abortion report released today.
Titled “A public report providing statistics compiled from all abortions reported to DHEC 2022”, the report did not list the abortions by facility nor abortions by race. There are three free-standing state-licensed businesses where the majority of the abortions are performed: Planned Parenthood in Columbia and Charleston, and the Greenville Women’s Clinic.
It is unclear why the DHEC report excluded the number of abortions by facility or by race. South Carolina Citizens for Life staff is working to update the information which has been available in years past.
Some of the data information shows:
- 51.48% of the abortions in 2022 occurred by the sixth week of pregnancy.
- 99.96% of pregnancies used ultrasound to determine the probable post-fertilization age.
- 57.16% of the abortions occurred in the age group of 20-29 years old.
- 71.7% of pregnancies were ended by lethal drugs, commonly called the abortion pill.
- There were 97 abortions performed on underage girls including 19 under the age of 15.
- There were five abortions between 20-23 weeks when the baby can feel pain.
This is a developing report and will be updated when additional data is available.
Read the published report here.