Do abortion bans really work to curb abortion? Advocates of abortion like to argue that they do not, but recent numbers out of Indiana, which has a near-total abortion ban, are promising.

There were just 72 abortions reported in Indiana in the first half of the year, according to the latest numbers from the state’s health department. The first and second quarter statistics from Indiana’s Terminated Pregnancy Report show the promising trend of abortions in Indiana nearing zero.

Compared to the first quarter of 2023, which saw 1,931 abortions, abortions between Jan. 1 and March 31 of this year numbered 45. Of those 45 abortions, 28 were due to a “lethal fetal anomaly,” 16 were due to “serious health risk of the mother,” and one was due to “rape or incest.”

Between the beginning of April and the end of June, there were only 27 abortions.

With the state’s near-total abortion ban passing its one-year anniversary, it becomes clear that the law is effective.

The news isn’t all good, however. The prevalence of chemical abortion drugs and rising abortions in neighboring Illinois show that the fight to protect human life will continue.

While the official number of abortions in Indiana is at a low, trends across state lines and the rest of America seem to be going in the opposite direction. In the neighboring state of Illinois, which continues to offer abortions, Planned Parenthood clinics have “seen a 54% increase in in-state and out-of-state patients since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022,” per the Chicago Sun Times.

Out-of-state abortions from states such as Indiana and Wisconsin contributed to a 72% overall increase in abortions in the state of Illinois.

Research conducted prior to the reversal of Roe v. Wade suggested that abortions drop the further women need to travel. So it is likely that at least some Indiana women are forgoing abortion due to the state’s law.

More can always be done to protect preborn babies from abortion and to support mothers and fathers. An important front in the fight for life is now restricting access to abortion medication. As the Washington Post reported earlier this year, “The number of yearly abortions in the United States rose by 10 percent between 2020 and 2023, while medication abortions became more common than ever.”

While a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill lost in the Supreme Court earlier this year, pro-lifers should keep fighting to limit the availability of a drug that has ended so many unborn lives.