The abortion statistics for 2023 are in, and they make for grim reading. <a href="https://www.christianpost.com/news/abortion-was-the-top-cause-of-death-worldwide-in-2023.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Christian Post</a> reported that abortion was the leading cause of death worldwide in 2023, topping infectious diseases and cancer. Approximately 44.6 million babies were murdered in the womb over the course of 2023, marking the fifth consecutive year in which abortion was the world's leading cause of death. Other significant causes of death included infectious diseases (12.9 million), cancer (8.2 million), smoking (4.9 million), alcohol abuse (2.4 million), HIV and AIDS (1.6 million), traffic accidents (1.3 million) and suicide (over 1 million). When added up, abortion caused more deaths than all the aforementioned factors combined. The data was sourced from <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231207093603/https://www.worldometers.info/abortions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Worldometer</a>, a real-time statistics provider, which makes the distinction between induced abortions and natural abortions, known as miscarriages. "The data on abortions displayed on the Worldometer's counter is based on the latest estimates on worldwide abortions published by various sources, including the <a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/world-health-organization-calls-huge-global-tax-increases-alcohol-soda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Health Organization</a>," the organization noted. "According to WHO, every year in the world there are around 73 million induced abortions. This corresponds to approximately 200,000 abortions per day." Worldometer noted that over the course of 2023 there were between 1,500 to 2,500 abortions a day in the United States alone. "In the USA, where nearly 30 percent of pregnancies are unintended and 40 percent of these are terminated by abortion, there are between 1,500 to 2,500 abortions per day. Nearly 20 percent of all pregnancies in the USA (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion. "Guttmacher Institute reports 930,160 abortions performed in 2020 in the United States, with a rate of 14.4 per 1,000 women," it continued. "CDC reports 629,898 abortions in 2019, with a rate of 11.4 abortions per 1,000 women (excludes CA, MD, NH)." Despite the <a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/breaking-roe-v-wade-overturned-trump-nominated-justices-help-deliver-biggest-pro-life-win-american-history/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">overturning</a> of Roe vs Wade in June 2022, which ended federal abortion laws and returned the matter to individual states, abortions have sadly continued to rise throughout the country. Many Republican states, including Texas and South Carolina, have passed <a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/south-carolina-adds-growing-momentum-protect-life-fetal-heartbeat-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> either limiting or outlawing the procedure. Yet as noted by Axios, the number of abortions has risen as Democratic-controlled states have taken on women from other parts of the country. "In states where it's legal after six weeks, there were nearly 117,000 more abortions reported between July 2022 and June 2023 compared to baseline data from April and May 2022," the outlet <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/10/24/abortion-increase-roe-wade-state-ban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, citing a study from the Society of Family Planning. "Many of the states with large increases border those with abortion bans and serve as access points for people traveling out of state." <hr /> This article appeared originally on <a href="https://www.westernjournal.com/">The Western Journal</a>.