Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest called the news of a historic 5% drop in the abortion rate, released by the Centers for Disease Control on the eve of Thanksgiving, “a real cause for giving thanks.” Nevertheless, the pro-life leader noted that reporting on the new data has not included a more somber data-point: the number of abortion-related maternal fatalities doubled in 2008, the most recent year data is available.

“The CDC report documents the death of twelve women following their abortion,” said Dr. Yoest. “That number is double the deaths reported the previous year and it’s the highest since 1994.”