A Republican lawmaker in Delaware has introduced two anti-abortion bills in his state because he believes abortion is contributing to the declining birth rate in the U.S. Rep. Richard Collins is the co-sponsor of HB52, which would ban abortion after 20 weeks, and HB53, which would require women to see an ultrasound before getting an abortion. Currently, Delaware bans abortion after 24 weeks.
"God is moving in strange and wonderful ways, folks," Rep. Collins said in an interview with Delaware radio station WGMD, first reported by Raw Story. "These gun bills that we talk about will save essentially no lives because it will have no impact on criminals getting [or] keeping their guns. But every single year, we kill hundreds of people in abortions.”
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Collins then cited the country's declining birth rate — it dipped 2% from 2016 to 2017 and is at a 30-year low — as a reason for restricting abortion. "You know, we have a massive problem in this country. Our birthrate is way, way below replacement [levels]. You know, we are just not having enough babies," he said. Collins continued that he believes these bills are "very, very minor" and that laws requiring women to see an ultrasound and hear a fetal heartbeat will stop "75% of women" from going through with an abortion. Refinery29 could not find any study or source to back up his claims.
There are many factors at play as to why American women are having less children, including reduced teen pregnancy rates, women having children later in life thanks to improved fertility treatments, and the astronomical costs of childcare. Additionally, Collins failed to mention that abortion rates are at their lowest ever since the landmark decision Roe v. Wade was issued in 1973, according to the CDC.
Collins is just one of many anti-choice lawmakers determined to undermine and chip away at a woman's right to choose. As Refinery29 has previously reported, since the start of the year, more than 250 abortion restrictions have been introduced across the country, many of which ban abortion before most women even know they are pregnant. The end goal is to eventually trigger a Supreme Court battle that could end in Roe v. Wade being overturned. "The idea is to...ultimately to get this before the U.S. Supreme Court with the anticipation that the court is looking to undermine or overturn Roe v. Wade," Elizabeth Nash, senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, told Refinery29. "Conservatives are very eager to get that ball rolling."