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The Connecticut Catholic Conference released its annual report on abortion in Connecticut on December 31. I encourage all our readers to spend a few minutes familiarizing themselves with it, but here are some highlights:

Good news: Abortion numbers are on a down-trend, overall.

Room for improvement: In 2013 (the last year included) there were still 10,000+ too many abortions!
Also, drug-induced abortions are up as a percentage of the total.

Good news: There are now 4 plans on Connecticut’s health insurance exchange that don’t cover elective abortion.
None of these enrollees will pay a separate abortion surcharge.

Room for improvement: There is no plan that completely excludes all abortion.
We agree with the Catholic Conference, there should be at least one. We wish the insurance companies had listened to us when we first testified against elevating abortion to “essential health benefit” status in 2012. The first company to offer such a plan would have a competitive edge among people who are in the market for a different plan but don’t equate killing with quality medical care (imagine that!).

Good news: Compliance with legal reporting requirements has “significantly” improved.

Room for improvement: Some abortionists are still failing to provide the Department of Public Health important information, such as the age of women undergoing abortions and gestational ages of the unborn children.

Good news: Since 2008, 4 abortion clinics have closed. (Hooray!)

Room for improvement: Connecticut still has an abortion tourism problem.
Without a parental consent or notification law, Connecticut has become a destination for circumventing the laws of neighboring states. Over a 10-year period, 90% of abortions — over 700 — involving an out-of-state minor were done on girls from nearby states with parental consent/notification laws, primarily Massachusetts and Rhode Island. This remains a high priority for us.

The full report is here.