Iowa Abortion Numbers Climb After Plummeting For Decades

DES MOINES — The number of women having abortions in Iowa climbed last year, a turnaround that critics blame on the state’s controversial decision to withdraw from a federally funded family planning program.After decades of plummeting abortion numbers, the state last year recorded 3,566 abortions — 8 percent more than the previous year, according to preliminary data from the Iowa Department of Public Health.The Des Moines Register reported last year’s increase came after the number of Iowa abortions dropped 56 percent from 2008 to 2018.In 2017, Iowa decided to withdraw from a federally funded family planning program that had helped thousands of Iowans get birth control supplies and information on pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.