Contact: Troy Newman, President, 316-683-6790 ext. 111; Cheryl Sullenger, Senior Vice President, 316-516-3034; both with Operation Rescue, info.operationrescue@gmail.com 

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Just days before the nation marks the 44th memorial of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, the Guttmacher Institute released a survey of 2014 abortion numbers that show abortions have dropped to their lowest level since the 1973 ruling that decriminalized abortion in the U.S. According to the survey, abortion numbers have decreased by 14 percent since 2011.

The question no one seems to be able to definitively answer - and the authors of the survey did not address - is why?

Operation Rescue has been monitoring abortion facilities for years and conducts its own annual survey, which shows abortion businesses have been steadily declining since 1991. That year, there were 2,176 surgical abortion facilities in the U.S. Today, there are 517 - a decrease of 76 percent.

To directly correlate it to the abortion-supporting Guttmacher Institute survey, since 2011, there has been a 23 percent reduction in surgical abortion facilities.

While abortion is decreasing nationwide, the drop is particularly sharp in states where abortion facilities close, according to data found in state abortion statistic reports.

"When abortion clinics close, lives are saved," said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. "When there are no abortion businesses in a community actively marketing abortions to women, abortions decrease. Abortion businesses create a fake 'need' for women to get abortions through aggressive marketing campaigns. Take away the supply, and we find there is little actual demand."

Operation Rescue has documented shocking abuses found within the Abortion Cartel and has used the Internet and social media to expose those abuses to the public. Our documentation has been used to support pro-life laws and complaints against shoddy abortion providers that have resulted in disciplinary action and even criminal convictions - all of which have shuttered abortion offices.

Operation Rescue's research shows that the primary reason abortion facilities are closing is their own failure to comply with the most rudimentary medical health standards and laws.

"It is common to find abortion facilities that don't properly sterilize surgical instruments or have unqualified staff," said Newman. "When states enforce existing safety standards and abortion laws, we see abortion facilities close."

But Operation Rescue notes that women don't have to face the challenges of unexpected pregnancy alone. There are over 5,250 pregnancy help centers in the U.S. that offer free assistance to pregnant women. These centers outnumber abortion facilities by over 10 to 1.

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