Elliot Institute 2012 Year End Report

Through your support, we were blessed during the last year to accomplish a number of projects, including:

* We had two studies of women’s death rates following abortion published in peer-reviewed journals. Our studies included all women of reproductive age in Denmark from 1980 to 2004. The findings showed that:

* Following their first pregnancies, women who abort are 84 percent more likely to die within the next 180 days compared to women who deliver. An elevated risk of death persists for least 10 years following abortion. (Medical Science Monitor)

* Examining the entire reproductive lives of women in the sample, a single abortion increased the risk of death by 45 percent, two abortions by 115 percent, and three or more abortions 192 percent. This “dose effect” – an increased risk for each exposure to abortion – is strong evidence of a causal effect. (European Journal of Public Health)

* The importance of our research was recently demonstrated by an 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling. Planned Parenthood argued that there was no duty to disclose that abortion is linked to an elevated risk of suicide, arguing that our studies failed to prove that abortion is in and of itself the direct cause of suicide. The court rejected this argument and affirmed that a statistical association alone was a sufficient basis for requiring disclosure of the risk. Since this is the same standard that applies to pharmaceuticals and other treatments, the court concluded, there is no reason to apply a stricter standard of causal proof for abortion-related risks. This important ruling paves the way to requiring that all the risks we have demonstrated to be associated with abortion must be included in informed consent materials and pre-abortion risk disclosures.

* Our three major websites (www.AfterAbortion.org, www.TheUnChoice.com, and www.AbortionRisks.org) had over 16 million hits, delivering pages to approximately 18,000 unique visitors each month.

* Through one web site alone, we have provided individualized advice and recommendations to approximately 210 women and men who contacted us. Some are asking for help to avoid an unwanted abortion, others for help in healing after an abortion, whether it took place a few days or a few decades earlier. Still others email us in desperation asking for help on how to stop a girlfriend or daughter who is abortion-bound. Each was given personal assistance. This is some of our most gratifying work.

* We delivered over 100 email newsletters to our lists, including “The Elliot Institute News,” “The Unletter” and various news releases. Many of the articles produced by our staff have been republished and distributed by other pro-life groups, news services, and bloggers.

* We renewed efforts to expand the work of the Ad Hoc Committee of Women Pregnant by Sexual Assault (WPSA), which is petitioning Congress to hold hearings at which WPSA members may personally explain the real needs and concerns of women who have experienced pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. Such hearings will show that abortion generally makes the lives of these women worse rather than better, and that the presumption that women and girls in such situations want or need abortions actually hurts pregnant sexual assault victims. The renewed urgency for empowering WPSA members to be heard has obviously been underscored by the recent firestorm over comments made by U.S. Senate candidates on the issue of abortion in cases of rape.

* We completed our second annual Church Awareness Project. Participation increased by 60 percent. Materials distributed to churches included over 20 resource items, including bulletin inserts and educational materials, 13 project and outreach ideas. This year we expanded our outreach beyond the U.S. and Canada with distribution in countries from Nigeria to Croatia.

* We published four new special reports on the following topics: Repeat Abortions, How the Abortion Industry Sells Abortion, Uncounted Abortion Deaths and the CDC, and “The War on Women.”

* We made major expansions to our TheUnchoice.com web site. The site is focused on making our academic research user-friendly and accessible for pro-life and family-friendly groups through ads, flyers, fact sheets, bulletin inserts and other material that can be easily distributed to the public. During the last year, these resources have been used by hundreds of individuals and organizations. The UnChoice radio ads have been run in New York, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky and on cable networks. Other materials have been used in California, Colorado, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Canada, Portugal, Ireland, England, and more.

* In the works: we’re preparing new ads, flyers, and posters related to the 40^th anniversary of Roe v Wade in 2013. We are also working with pro-life groups and lobbyists, which will hopefully lead to introduction of our model legislation defining negligent pre-abortion screening.

People like you are the backbone of our ministry.

These and other accomplishments were achieved through the efforts of just three employees and 257 donating partners, who contributed an average of $315 per partner for a total of $81,205. These donations, combined with sales of books and interest income, resulted in a total income of $87,104 – a figure that fell about $31,000 short of our total expenses for the year of over $118,360. So we need your help to continue this work!

Our successes are the accomplishments of everyone affiliated with the Elliot Institute, whether as one of our generous donating partners or as one of our small committed staff. We are especially thankful for, and proud of, our Sustaining Partners. Their faithful commitment to provide ongoing support sustains not only our bank accounts, but our also our spirits throughout the long years.

For those of you reading this report who are already among our donating partners, we again extend our thanks. We pray that you will continue to participate in this ministry in 2013. Please also consider sharing this report with friends and family members. Perhaps they will join us in this work.

For those who have not yet joined our efforts, we ask that you will prayerfully consider doing so. If you have donated in the past but did not in 2012, please renew your support in 2013.

With a ministry as small as ours, whether you give $30 or $10,000, your donations make a huge difference. And no matter what you give, we will work to make sure that when you read our next year-end report in 2013, you will be proud of your part in this great effort.

Thank you so much for your support. And please remember us, our efforts, and our families in your prayers. In turn, we continue to remember you, and all of our supporters, in our prayers.

Visit here to support our work with a pledge or one-time donation.

 

Soli Deo Gloria – To God Alone the Glory

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