Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Abortion rate in US at record low

According to a new study from the Guttmacher Institute, abortion in the US is at it's lowest rate since Roe v. Wade was passed. A couple of interesting highlights:

  • "...Most of the change is due to declining abortion rates among women aged 20 to 24 since 1989. Experts disagree on the cause of this shift, with some pointing toward easier access to contraceptives, and others citing state laws that require parental notification for minors' abortions. Minors, however, account for only 7 percent of all abortions.

  • The proportion of women accessing abortion who've already had an abortion is falling. In the words of Guttmacher, "There is no evidence that abortion is being used as a primary method of birth control." " (emphasis mine)

  • It's amusing how the fetus fetishists try to spin this into something that shows their oppressive policies are responsible. Yeah, I'm sure those "parental notification" laws have a major effect all those 20-24-year-old women. Clearly, it isn't idiotic anti-choice laws, but a foundation of comprehensive education (ie. not this bullshit) and increased access to contraception that's contributed to the lower numbers.

    Apart from that, it's good to see the specious "abortion as birth control" argument blown right out of the water. Not that that'll stop the fetishists from using it, but anyway.

    All in all, this is good news. Hopefully someday the US will follow in Canada's groundbreaking footsteps and realize that abortion laws are completely unnecessary.