Missouri abortion numbers fall again
JEFFERSON CITY – The number of resident Missouri abortions continued to tick down every so slightly in 2005, giving hope to the idea that it will one day dip below the lowest levels ever recorded.
The number fell from 11,871 in 2004 to 11,619 in 2005, according to Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services statistics obtained in November. It marked the lowest figure since 1975, when 11,077 resident Missouri abortions were recorded.
The numbers from 1971-1974 are at the bottom. They ranged from a little over 4,500 to a little over 10,400 as they increased every year. It doubled rather quickly from there before spiking at 21,671 in 1980 and gradually falling into the 13,000s by 1995 and down into the 12,000s from 1999-2003.
“While we would like to see a dramatic drop, these numbers still indicate lives are being changed,” said Rodney Albert, chairman of the Christian Life Commission (CLC) of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC). “We’re going on a case-by-case basis.
“This is like guerilla warfare. We’ve done the Air Force saturation. Now the troops are in the cities, and we have to fight house by house, village by village. This is hard work, but these numbers represent faithful Christians and pro-life-minded Missourians doing a wonderful job of educating girls in crisis pregnancies that abortion is not the answer.”
“I think the real good news is that in generations to follow, we are going to see a rapid decline,” he said. “It’s pro-life mothers raising their children. When they do that, those children grow up to be pro-life. The pro-abortion movement has killed their children, so in coming generations we are going to see a dramatic drop in the support of abortion.
“I continue to long for the day when abortion once again is illegal in the United States of America.”
He grieved the fact that while one abortionist has been driven out of business in Springfield, abortionists still kill in Columbia and St. Louis. As pastor of Hallsville Baptist Church, which is just outside of Columbia, Albert is reminded of this ongoing tragedy more than most.
“I’m very glad that about 250 babies have been saved (in 2005), but the flip side is still a very ugly picture—11,600-plus babies were violently murdered this past year,” he said. “They died horrible, painful deaths. We still have to work to convince this state and this state’s mothers that abortion is not an option.
“It’s a dark drive when I go down Providence Road (past the abortion clinic in Columbia). I always pause and offer up a prayer. I continue to offer my prayers and long for the day when that clinic’s no longer in my back yard.”
Albert encouraged Missouri Baptists to remain faithful in their opposition to abortion and to become even more active in support of those places where women can go to receive help.
“If you’re giving to a crisis pregnancy center, give more,” he said. “If you’ve never given to a crisis pregnancy center, give. Volunteer those hours. Get into the lives of those young women who are in crisis and remind them that there is a life within them and that there is a church that is ready to throw its arms around them in love to help them through this time.”