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Although the exact number of abortion survivors is unknown, and in reality, even the exact number of abortions completed annually even in the U. S. is incomplete, (as states like California do not report their statistics, and the number of chemical abortions across the country are not reported), what we have found is that there are far more abortion survivors than most people would suspect. Interestingly enough, a pro-life writer estimated that based on the failure rates of late-term abortions, there could be as many as 44,000 survivors of late-term abortion in the United States alone.
Although the raw data on abortion survivors is difficult to obtain, particularly in the U.S., there are a handful of state reports that give us a little insight. There are also a number of countries who report the incidence of abortion survival. As you will see here, a government report in Canada from 2012 reported that 491 children survived abortions there over the nine-year period of 2000-2009. There’s also this report that identifies 766 children survived abortions in the five-year period from 2013-2018. Additionally, there are similar government reports from the U.K. and states in Australia.
It’s important to note that although our culture often talks about late-term abortion being rare, the reality is that there are a significant number of late-term abortions that occur for reasons such as health issues being identified for the baby during their 20-week anatomy scan, women not knowing that they’re pregnant or miscalculating how far along they are, and women hiding their pregnancy from others.
Although many abortion survivors were subjected to late term abortion procedures, there are children who survive abortion procedures in first and early second trimester abortions as well, including chemical abortions. With the assistance of the abortion pill reversal, we now also see children surviving due to this intervention. There are also numerous instances of twin pregnancy where there is only knowledge of one child at the time of the abortion, so there remains an additional child after the procedure.
From 2012-2020, The Abortion Survivors Network had contact with 316 survivors of abortion or their friends or family who contacted us on their behalf. We know this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to survivors—many don’t ever share their stories with anyone, and, in fact, many probably don’t even know about their survival, as it’s kept a secret.
Despite abortion survival not being openly discussed in our culture, there are news articles and social media stories and videos regularly published and circulating that share both past instances, stories and statistics, and current news pertaining to survivors.
Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter to see more of these stories and share these links with others so that they can get Informed about the incidence of abortion survival and the experiences of survivors.