In a year, California taxpayers paid $28 million for abortions… and there’s more

In a previous piece, Live Action News revealed that, despite abortion proponents’ claims that taxpayers don’t fund abortion, taxpayers are footing the bill for more than half of all abortions committed in states where Medicaid pays for abortions. Now, here are more details from various states, detailing how much taxpayer funding is really being used to pay for abortions.

Alaska

According to 2017 data, 50.6 percent of women who aborted used Medicaid to fund their abortions. Out of 1,255 abortions reported, 635 were taxpayer funded. 2016 data is available from Live Action News here.

California

The most recent Medi-Cal funded induced abortion report (2014), shows that taxpayers in California paid for 83,485 abortions.

In just the Medi-Cal FFS plan, taxpayers financed 53,907 abortions to the tune of $27,591,381.00. This included 4,438 Dilation and Evacuation (D+E) abortions, which are usually committed later in the pregnancy.

Former abortionist Dr. Anthony Levatino describes below the gruesome D&E abortion procedure, which California taxpayers are funding:

2nd Trimester Surgical Abortion: Dilation and Evacuation (D & E)

Illinois

According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, “In 2017, Illinois expanded Medicaid coverage to pay for elective abortions with state Medicaid funds. Before the expansion, Illinois’ Medicaid program covered abortion only when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest or when the mother’s life was at risk.”

As a result, the Illinois News Network (INN) reported that “Illinois taxpayers paid for nearly four times more abortions in the first six months of 2018 than the year before….” Abortion reimbursement requests Illinois News Network obtained from the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services (HFS) showed that taxpayer funded abortions increased 274 percent as follows:

• From January to June 2017: 84 taxpayer-funded abortions

• From January to June 2018: 314 taxpayer-funded abortions

For the first six months of 2017, INN reported that “the HFS document showed the provider charge amount for the 84 procedures was $129,467, with a total payment of $14,995.29. For the same time period in 2018 for the 314 procedures the provider charge amount was $426,583 with a payment total of $24,389.”

Illinois taxpayers may even be footing the bill for residents from other states, implied in a report published by WQAD which showed that in 2016, “there were were 4,543 out-of-state individuals that got an abortion in Illinois, 1,573 more than in 2014.”

“[O]ur Medicaid eligibility requirements are so lenient that we expect folks are going to come in from out of state, they will establish temporary residence to get their free abortion and then go home,” State Rep. Peter Breen told WQAD.

Maryland

According to the most current data on state taxpayer dollars funding abortion (data may not include all abortions):

• 2017: $5.7 million funded 8,798 abortions

• 2016: $5.4 million funded 7,897 abortions.

• 2015: $5.7 million funded 7,945 abortions.

• 2014: $5.6 million funded 7,651 abortions.

• 2013: $5.4 million funded 7,528 abortions.

• 2012: $5.2 million funded 7,442 abortions.

• 2011: $5.4 million funded 7,177 abortions.

• 2010: $4.7 million funded 6,652 abortions.

• 2009: $3.4 million funded 4,857 abortions.

• 2008: $2.2 million funded 3,281 abortions.

Live Action News has information about previous years here.

Minnesota

In 2017, out of 10,177 abortions performed in the state, nearly 44 percent (43.9) or 4,469 abortions were recorded as paid for with public assistance. Data from previous years has been published by Live Action News here.

In 2017, the state also funded 115 out-of-state abortions, costing taxpayers $17,855.53.

Planned Parenthood committed 61.2 percent of the total abortions in the state that same year:

New Mexico

Information is not published; previous data published by Live Action News can be found here.

New York

Live Action News previously reported that, in 2015, the percentage of taxpayer-funded abortions in the state increased from 47 to 49 percent, for a total of 42,549 taxpayer-funded abortions that year.

Oklahoma

According to the state’s 2017 induced abortion report, an unknown number of abortions were recorded as being funded by Medicaid. The report indicates that the “cell was suppressed to maintain confidentiality of surrounding entries.”

Oregon

In November of 2018, Oregon voters will decide if their state will continue to fund abortions. Measure 106 would prohibit public funds from being spent on abortions, except when medically necessary or required by federal law.

Jeff Jimerson of Oregon Life United recently told KATU that in 2017, the state paid $1.9 million to fund approximately 3500 abortions, an average of ten abortions each day.

According to the Oregonian, abortions are covered under the Oregon Health Plan, “which paid $2.4 million for 3,769 abortions in 2016, according to Oregon Health Authority documents.”

South Carolina

A letter submitted by Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant to The State claims that:

• Planned Parenthood alone received almost $360,000 from SC taxpayers from 2011-2016

• From 2011-2015, S.C. Medicaid paid for 29 abortions

• Since 2011, the state employee health plan has paid for 11 abortions.

South Dakota

In 2016, 17 out of 472 abortions were paid for by a public health plan. According to the the state’s Office of Health Statistics report, the majority of abortions — 83.7 percent — cost between $600 and $699.

West Virginia

A summary of Medicaid-funded abortions from 2009 to 2017 was included in a report recently submitted by the Bureau for Medical Services to the West Virginia Legislature’s Joint Committee on Government and Finance, as follows:

This list is by no means all state funding.

An analysis published earlier this year by Guttmacher found that “Medicaid was the second-most-common method of payment, reported by 24% of abortion patients. The overwhelming majority of these patients lived in the 15 states that allow state funds to be used to pay for abortion.”

Read part one of this two-part series here.

Editor’s Note, 12/7/18: This article originally stated, “The most recent Medi-Cal funded induced abortion report (2014), shows that taxpayers in California paid for 83,485 abortions through Medi-Cal Fee-For-Service (FFS) and Managed Care plans.” This has been corrected to say, “The most recent Medi-Cal funded induced abortion report (2014), shows that taxpayers in California paid for 83,485 abortions.”