A major concern, the reported added, is the lack of information on abortion statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Among other issues, some states do not report their abortion numbers or problems, and some states only report on residents who received abortions.
For example, California, Maryland, and New Hampshire do not disclose their abortion information to the CDC, though together they account for 20% of all abortions in the U.S., the report stated. Ohio is also one of the only states to require abortion complications to be disclosed to the government. The FDA only tracks abortions that have resulted in a woman's death.
"The lack of accurate chemical abortion data at the national level means that adverse events caused by chemically induced abortions may be much more common than researchers realize," the reported stated.
Donovan said the CDC will receive real time information on a state's births and deaths, but abortion numbers are about two years behind. To keep women better educated on the dangers, he said, the government should be more determined to use modern technology to track these statistics.
"These reports are not giving us a true picture of the harm that chemical abortions do, but that harm is higher than surgical abortions done at the same stage of pregnency. We should be on top of this, women should be warned of the heightened risk of using these drugs and it should be tracked by the medical monitory system. That's not happening," he said.
Although there is a concern for the future, Donovan expressed gratitude that there has still been a decline in abortions, noting that the pro-life movement and increase in pregnancy centers have likely impacted the decrease in abortions and changes in attitude toward unexpected pregnancies.
"Women are more inclined to keep an unexpected pregnancy than they were a couple of decades ago. Things like ultrasounds, more services, and, possibly, expanded health care coverage for women; those things have been beneficial," he said.
"We don't want to discount all of the decline, we are just concerned that it may be coming to an end and we should know why and be prepared to the health impacts of that."
Perry West is a staff writer for Catholic News Agency. He graduated from Franciscan University with his bachelor's in English. Prior to his job at CNA, he worked in construction staffing and coffee.