See FLORIDA TODAY newspaper article.
The Brevard County, Florida per capita abortion rate was 52% less than the state average in 1997, while the rates for both were virtually the same in 1989. Here are the facts. Calculate it for yourself. Then explain it.
Public Health Statistics, Office of Vital Statistics, Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services show in their report titled Reported Induced Abortions by Reason and Gestation by County show that in 1989, there were 1863 reported abortions in Brevard County and then in 1997, there were 1221.
The same report shows 62,626 reported abortions in 1989 for the whole state of Florida in 1989 and 81,692 in 1997.
The Brevard Economic Development Commission reports that the population of Brevard County was 388,378 in 1989 and 458,035 in 1997.
The Florida Population by Year web site gives the population of Florida as 12.7 million in 1989 and 14.7 million in 1997.
Use these numbers to calculate the abortion rate drop for yourself. Can you explain it? Here is the Christians for Life (pro-life group in Melbourne, Florida) explanation for the rate drop.
History
Aware Woman Center for Choice is located in Melbourne, Florida and is the only abortion clinic in Brevard County, Florida. In 1989, a concentrated pro-life activism movement began and has continued since. The number of abortions has been observed by pro-life counselors outside Aware Woman to drop from about 50 per week to about 13 a week during one three week period in October/November 1997.
Why the decrease?
This drop could be attributed to many different things. There is no way to prove that any of the facts below are cause for the decline, but there is no disputing that there has been a tremendous decline.
1. Picketing and pro-life counseling.
The constant presence of picketers and pro-life counselors in front of Aware Woman has had an affect. Some mothers change their minds at just the presence of people in front of the clinic. See the story of one mother, Joanna, who came back to see us with baby daughter Morgan in her arms to tell us what happened. All someone did was give her some pro-life literature. She went home, read it, changed her mind, and gave life to her daughter Morgan. Sometimes it’s just as simple as that.
2. Abortion price war in Orlando (Orange County)
There are four abortion clinics in Orlando. Competition is fierce. The following data is from November 1997. An abortion at up to 12 weeks gestation can be purchased at the EPOC Clinic for $195 using local anesthesia. A 10 – 12 week gestation abortion at Aware Woman costs $305 using local anesthesia ($230 plus a mandatory $75 ultrasound). A mother, 10 – 12 weeks pregnant, wanting an abortion can save $110 by driving 90 minutes to Orlando. That’s a 3 hour round trip to save $110 ($37 an hour). Sadly, many abortion-minded mothers are making the trip.
3. Shortage of abortionists willing to work at Aware Woman
Aware Woman’s main abortionist, William P. Egherman, is from Cincinnati, Ohio, 1000 miles from Melbourne. He flies down and butchers at Aware Woman two days a week. That’s a lot of overhead for 13 abortions a week.
Many abortionists have decided to stop working at Aware Woman when their neighbors, families and patients of their“legitimate“OB/GYN practices find out that they butcher babies at Aware Woman. Exposure of the injuries and deaths of mothers, unethical, and illegal practices at Aware Woman contributes also.
Abortionists who come to Aware Woman to butcher babies are eventually forced to either quit or become full-time abortionists. They can’t be both a legitimate OB/GYN and butcher babies at Aware Woman. See Jay’s Killer Web Page for a list of abortionists who work or have worked at Aware Woman over the years.
4. Pregnancy Resources billboards
Pregnancy Resources, a Melbourne, Florida Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC), has had 5 full-size highway billboards up around Melbourne for the last 3 months as of November 1997. Susie Tharp, Director of Pregnancy Resources, says they have received an average of one call a day from mothers needing help as a direct result of those billboards.
5. Pregnancy Resources’ yellow page ad placement
The only display ad on page 1 of the Melbourne/Palm Bay yellow pages belongs to Pregnancy Resources. All of the abortion clinics are on page 2. The first place an abortion-minded mother looks is the yellow pages and the first ad there is for Pregnancy Resources, a pro-life Crisis Pregnancy Center.
6. Back to the schools
Christians for Life, a Melbourne pro-life group, has been making an educational outreach in front of the local high schools. This has stimulated much conversation among the students. Hopefully this conversation is resulting in their coming to see the truth about abortion (that a child is butchered) before they engage in behavior that might make abortion a personal issue. In other words, abstinence until marriage means no need for an abortion.
Conclusion
Abortions are way down at Aware Woman. Only God knows the true reason. We pray that they will stop altogether and Brevard County will join the 83 percent of counties nationwide that do not have even one abortion clinic. We are getting very close to the point of diminishing returns where the abortion rate will suddenly tumble to near-zero in Brevard County for pure economic reasons.
Please come out and help us get to that point quickly. Email Christians for Life or call (407) 724-5456 to find out how you can help.
