Florida abortions spike thousands in 2022
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Abortions in Florida for 2022 have eclipsed 82,000, thousands more than prior years, according to new data from the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration.
In 2020, that total was 74,868. In 2021, it was 79,817. As of February 2023, the number stands at 82,192.
The increase comes after the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
2022 also saw Florida’s 15-week abortion ban signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, which then faced a legal battle that has not yet concluded. It pends a Florida Supreme Court decision.
Florida’s Voice previously reported on the AHCA’s data at the end of 2022 showing a total of 68,217. Yearly reports encompassing abortions through the entire year are typically not compiled until well into the next year.
For example, 2021’s data was compiled on May 9, 2022, and 2020’s on March 10, 2021. Read the agency’s rules on abortion reporting here.
Florida Voice for the Unborn Founder and Executive Director Andrew Shirvell described the data as “heartbreaking” and “devastating.”
“While that number is likely to grow even more when the Agency releases the final 2022 statistics later this year, it is clear that the current reported number of Florida abortions for 2022 has already well exceeded the record annual number of abortions that was set in 2021,” Shirvell said.
Shirvell called on the supermajority GOP legislature to send pro-life legislation to DeSantis, who has indicated he’d support additional abortion restrictions.
“But the unvarnished truth is, thus far, Governor DeSantis has lacked the political courage to stop the record amount of bloodshed that has repeatedly occurred on his watch here in the ‘Red’ state of Florida,” he said.
DeSantis said in late 2022 he is “willing to sign great life legislation.”
Rep. Bob Rommel, R-Naples, told Florida’s Voice in 2022 that there is “movement” in the House to revisit abortion restrictions.
“I think there’s definitely a movement, but then obviously there’s people that that have mixed feelings and they’re sympathetic to some of the stories that we hear and we can be sympathetic, but we still sometimes you just have to do what’s right,” Rommel said.
Shirvell said Florida leaders should follow the lead of other “red” states to enact full abortion bans.
“Half measures such as a ‘Heartbeat Law,’ which are being belatedly pushed by discredited pro-life establishment figures, are no longer acceptable in ruby ‘Red’ states like Florida, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has definitively ruled that states can prohibit all abortions once again for the first time since 1973. Just as in Texas, every single abortion facility in Florida must be permanently shut-down,” he said.
“With over 82,000 children aborted in Florida in 2022 alone – a new horrific record – Governor DeSantis must ensure that comprehensive legislative protections for the unborn are enacted in the upcoming annual regular 60-day Florida Legislative Session, which begins in just a few short weeks on March 7th. The time for charades and excuses is over!”
