The Guttmacher Institute is urging states to "rethink" their mandated abortion reporting requirements during a second Trump term.
Guttmacher, which is considered the gold standard for accurate abortion statistics since it provides more comprehensive data and receives more reporting than the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommended that, instead of doing away with reporting altogether, state policymakers should implement a voluntary form of data collection.
Pro-life advocates object to the Guttmacher recommendation.
"Rolling back state-mandated abortion reporting would be a serious mistake," Mia Steupert, research associate at Charlotte Lozier Institute, a pro-life research group, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"Considering Dobbs placed the authority to enact protections for unborn children in the hands of the American people and their elected representatives at the federal and state levels, it’s critical to have access to good data so that the impact of those abortion policies can be evaluated," Steupert said, referring to the 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
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A doctor looking at healthcare data on a screen (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Guttmacher said their "recommendation isn’t an argument against states collecting abortion data, but a discussion of the risks and burdens of how it’s collected."
"Ending government-mandated abortion reporting does not contradict the collection of rigorous and accurate abortion data. We urge states to consider changing their laws and regulations to switch to voluntary models of data collection, which can produce high quality data while protecting the safety and privacy of patients and providers. We strongly oppose the intrusive and punitive federal abortion reporting mandate laid out in Project 2025," the spokesperson said.
Project 2025 refers to a policy blueprint by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank and is not an official Trump administration policy guide.
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The report comes nearly three years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – the 1973 decision guaranteeing a woman's right to abortion – and many states have since enacted abortion bans.
The Trump administration also rolled back a Biden-era executive order that federally funded abortion services, re-enacting the Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal taxpayer dollars for elective abortions.
Jamie Joseph is a U.S. Politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering transgender and culture issues, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services, and stateside legislative developments.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abortion-research-group-opposes-state-reporting-requirements-amid-weaponization-lawmakers