For the first time in 40 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not publish its annual “Abortion Surveillance Report” and told the conservative blog RedState that there were “no plans” to publish it at this time, RedState reported Thursday.
RedState described the data absence as the Obama administration’s way of intentionally playing “hide the ball” on the country’s abortion statistics.
RedState traditionally publishes a retrospective on abortion based on CDC’s annual ASR report, so when the report didn’t appear in last November or December’s issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the site pressed the CDC for answers.
Two hours and six minutes after blogging about the missing report, RedState received an official statement from the CDC:
“My understanding is the population data needed to develop rate/ratio statistics was not available at the time we normally prepare the ASR. It is these data that are often desired by many to track trends and changes in a most precise way possible.”
The statement added that the ASR is made up of aggregate data reported by several states and areas.
“We do take great pains to be sure the data reported is as accurate as possible,” the statement reads.
Though RedState reported Thursday that the CDC had “no plans” for the data to be released, CDC’s later statement said the next report is tentatively scheduled to be released this month, pending no issues with the publishing schedule for CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Report.
