Any news story that begins this way never seems good:

The total number of abortions provided in the U.S. rose slightly in the 12 months after states began implementing bans on them throughout pregnancy, a new survey finds.

And it's true. That's troubling data. You expect abortion rates to go down when the bans go up.

But the total number doesn't tell the total story! Here's the actual silver lining at play here:

The report out this week from the Society of Family Planning, which advocates for abortion access, shows the number fell to nearly zero in states with the strictest bans — but rose elsewhere, especially in states close to those with the bans.

Ahh! You see that?

So abortions did drop in the states that outlawed the procedure — they only rose in the states where it was still largely legal.

What does that tell you? Simply that, if you outlaw abortion effectively, you can reduce instances of it to "nearly zero." Yes, it may increase elsewhere as people seek it out where it's still legal. That may very well always happen, at least so long as there are unscrupulous doctors willing to prey on desperate, frightened women.

But it's clear that abortion numbers do respond to bans — and it's clear that we need more bans if we want to keep bringing the numbers down. The conclusions couldn't be clearer:

Since last year, most Republican-controlled states have enacted restrictions, while most Democrat-controlled states have extended protections for those from out of state seeking abortion.

That's a mandate for the GOP: Get control of more and more state legislatures and pass more and more bans.

If you want to save babies, that's how you do it: Get the numbers, get the bans, watch how many lives you save.

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