Rep. Norman Introduces Bill to Incentivize States to Report Abortion Data

Press Release

On Thursday, U.S. Congressmen Ralph Norman (SC-05) and Gary Palmer (AL-06) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that would incentivize states to report abortion data to the Center for Disease Control.

The Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2019 would ask states to report abortion data to the CDC in order to receive targeted Medicaid funding for family planning programs. These reasonable measures will help ensure that both Congress and the nation have a clear picture of how many abortions have been performed.

This bill has received support from:
March for Life
National Right to Life Committee
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Susan B. Anthony List
Family Research Council

Statement from March for Life: "For years government data on abortion and women's health has been missing statistics from entire states. Sadly Guttmacher Institute, founded as the research arm of our nation's largest abortion provider, has more complete data than the CDC. To say that there is a need for unbiased abortion reporting data is a gross understatement. We wholeheartedly applaud, support and thank Rep. Norman and Rep. Palmer for this commonsense bill which will bring abortion reporting out of the shadows and ultimately advance women's health."

Statement from the National Right to Life Committee: "National Right to Life applauds Representatives Norman and Palmer for their work on this important effort. Because state reporting of abortion is currently voluntary, the CDC abortion surveillance report is not providing a full estimate of abortions. Importantly, this legislation would also provide critical information as to whether a child survives an attempted abortion."

Statement from the Susan B. Anthony List: "We thank Congressmen Ralph Norman and Gary Palmer for their pro-life leadership. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) itself has long acknowledged that national statistics on abortion are lacking. State-level abortion data reporting is completely optional, resulting in a patchwork of incomplete, outdated and sometimes entirely missing information. Only six states report any information on babies who survive failed abortions, and three states do not submit abortion statistics to the CDC at all -- including California, one of the nation's most populous states with some of the most permissive abortion policies. The Ensuring Accurate and Complete Abortion Data Reporting Act of 2019 creates a new funding incentive for states to participate and requires states to report babies born alive. Americans across the ideological spectrum agree researchers, policymakers, and taxpayers deserve better data than the current inadequate system provides. We hope to see this bill pass with bipartisan support."

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