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U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) delivers a speech on the House floor on March 8.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) delivers a speech on the House floor on March 8.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-fourth Dist.) delivers a speech on the House floor on March 8.

Chris Smith says more than 54 million abortions have been performed since U.Southward. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade

U.Due south. Rep. Chris Smith has garnered attention for his ardent -- and sometimes graphic -- condemnation of abortion.

The Republican congressman, who represents parts of central New Bailiwick of jersey, took to the House floor on March 8 to denounce a new proposal: "later-birth ballgame."

During his spoken language, Smith said: "since 1973" -- when the U.S. Supreme Court handed downwards its landmark decision in the Roe 5. Wade instance -- "well over 54 million babies have had abortion forced upon them."  Now, he said, this "perverse proposal" for "later-birth abortion," or killing a newborn in all cases where abortion is permissible, has emerged.

PolitiFact New Jersey will exit others to debate "after-birth abortion." We decided to expect only at Smith's claim about the number of abortions.

First, permit's note that some abortion rights supporters contest using words such as babies and children in describing unborn fetuses. Jeff Sagnip, Smith's public policy managing director, dismissed that argument, saying "to object to the utilise of the term 'babies' in this context is out of step with mutual use."

And it's clear Smith was referencing the number of abortions since 1973, so that'south what nosotros are fact-checking here.

Sagnip referred united states of america to a written report from the National Right to Life Committee, a grouping that opposes ballgame, that claims there take been more than 54.five one thousand thousand abortions through 2011.

The committee's total is based on data nerveless by the Guttmacher Institute, a inquiry group that advocates on bug of sexual and reproductive health.

The U.South. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention besides collect data on abortions, but states aren't required to report to the federal bureau so the numbers are incomplete in some years. And people on both sides of the abortion argue largely consider the Guttmacher Institute the authority for this type of data.

The institute has tracked roughly 49.iii one thousand thousand abortions through 2008 from surveys of ballgame providers.

The National Right to Life Committee estimates the total through 2011 past assuming the number of abortions in 2008 -- nigh one.2 million -- stayed  the same. That puts the total near 53 million, a reasonable guess, according to a spokeswoman for the Guttmacher Establish.

But the committee likewise adds three pct for a possible under-reporting rate, which pushes the total above 54 meg.

The Guttmacher Plant found its 1992 survey overlooked some small providers and suggested that the number of abortions was actually between 3 pct and four pct more than than reported. In its most recent report, the institute said: "undercounting has likely become more pronounced over the last decade" because of early medication abortions at facilities that don't offer surgical abortions.

Spokeswoman Rebecca Wind said the Guttmacher Establish "acknowledges the potential underreporting in our ballgame reporting, but nosotros do not suit the figures to account for underreporting. Rather, nosotros report the actual number of abortions that are reported to us, so we are confident in this figure. Nosotros and so admit the level of potential underreporting in the reporting of those information."

Our ruling

Smith said that since 1973, when the Supreme Court handed downwardly its conclusion in Roe v. Wade, there'south been "well over" 54 million abortions.

The Guttmacher Institute has tracked roughly 49.3 meg abortions through 2008. If the recent trend of about i.ii million abortions per year holds true through 2011, it'southward reasonable to assume the total is at present shut to 53 meg. Even by that figure, Smith is close.

The Guttmacher Establish acknowledges the potential for underreporting in its data, simply does not adjust its figures. The statistic Smith cites relies entirely on the Guttmacher  Constitute information, except it adds three percent to adjust for the potential underreporting -- a calculation the institute doesn't support.

Either manner, both totals through 2011 are field of study to projections and estimates, and for that reason we rate this claim By and large True.

To comment on this ruling, go to NJ.com.

Congressional Record, The Premeditated Murder of New-Born Babies Justified as Morally Equivalent to Abortion, March 8, 2012

PolitiFact Texas, Rick Perry says at that place have been 50 million abortions since Roe, Feb. i, 2011

Interview with Rebecca Wind, spokeswoman for Guttmacher Institute, March thirteen, 2012

Email interview with Michele Jaker, executive managing director of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of New Jersey, March xiii, 2012

Electronic mail interview with Jeff Sagnip, public policy director for U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, March xiii, 2012

Email interview with Derrick Jones, communications director for the National Right to Life Committee, March 14, 2012

The Periodical of Medical Ideals, After-birth ballgame: why should the baby alive?, February. 23, 2012

National Correct to Life Committee, "Abortion Statistics: U.s. Data and Trends," accessed March 13, 2012

Guttmacher Institute, "Abortion Incidence and Admission to Services in the U.s., 2008," March 2011

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Ballgame Surveillance — United states of america, 2008," November. 27, 2009

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "CDC's Abortion Surveillance System FAQs," accessed March 13, 2012

Guttmacher Institute, Country Facts About Ballgame: New Jersey, accessed March 13, 2012

New Jersey Right to Life, Statistics, accessed March xiii, 2012

U.S. Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade opinion, decided January. 22, 1973, accessed via Cornell University Law Schoolhouse website, March xiii, 2012

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