The College Fix

ANALYSIS: Southern states with pro-life laws saw enrollment bump over past decade

Turns out, young people are not fleeing states that protect unborn babies by banning elective abortions.

Actually, it appears to be quite the opposite. According to a new Axios report, “Northeast students are heading south for college” where – although the report didn’t mention this part – most states strictly limit or ban abortions.

Along with “warm weather,” “fun,” “merit scholarships,” and “affordability,” Axios suggested politics are a big consideration for students when choosing a college. It pointed to Republican-led states’ quicker end to the COVID-19 lockdowns and, more recently, the violent pro-Palestinian riots at universities in a number of northern, Democrat-led states as factors in the southward trend.

The biggest enrollment shifts from northern to southern universities occurred in Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and Texas between 2014 and 2023, according to Axios. The time period is significant because, within that decade, all six states began enforcing pro-life laws.

Georgia, for example, prohibits abortions after an unborn baby’s heartbeat is detectable, about six weeks of pregnancy.

Its pro-life law has been in effect for several years now, and it doesn’t appear to be negatively affecting students’ college decisions. The University of Georgia System reported an “all-time record” enrollment in the fall.

Meanwhile, “Louisiana State University saw a nearly 500% increase in attendance from students in the Northeast from 100 students in 2014 to 568 in 2023,” Axios found.

In Louisiana, state laws protect unborn babies by banning elective abortions from the moment of conception.

The data contradicts a prevalent claim that college students are avoiding states with abortion restrictions.

In January, the progressive news outlet The 19th reported about research that suggests young adults have “left states with near-total abortion bans” by the “tens of thousands.”

The report by the National Bureau of Economic Research “found that since the 2022 fall of Roe v. Wade, the states with near-total abortion bans — 13 at the time of the analysis — appear to have lost 36,000 people per quarter,” according to The 19th.

Some professors also predicted a mass exodus from pro-life states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe and began allowing states to ban abortions again.

However, the new data, coupled with several past analyses by The College Fix, indicate there is little evidence to support their claims.

An OB/GYN with the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute told The Fix in January that abortion restrictions aren’t affecting medical students either.

“There is no evidence pro-life laws are negatively affecting the quality or quantity of obstetric residency applicants,” Dr. Ingrid Skop, vice president and director of medical affairs at the think tank, told The Fix.

“The data continues to show that pro-life states are receiving far more applications for obstetric residencies than they have spots available,” Skop said.

MORE: Still no proof Indiana pro-life law hurt ‘quality of candidates’ for OB/GYN residency

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A pro-life activist holds a sign during a rally protesting abortion. Maria Oswalt/Unsplash

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