H
HagiaSophia
Guest
Did you know that “abortions have gone up 25 percent since George Bush was President”? Are you shocked? Skeptical?
When Howard Dean, the Democratic National Committee Chair, hurled that “25 percent” factoid at Tim Russert during a recent broadcast of “Meet the Press,” all the host could do was cut to commercial. But there was good reason to challenge him.
According to data from the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), abortions are continuing their gradual 20-year decline. AGI’s interim figures show 0.8 percent fewer abortions nationwide in 2001 than in 2000, and a similar drop in 2002. No more recent figures are available nationwide.
To suggest an increase in abortions is a politically useful claim for those who want to discredit efforts to protect the unborn. But it simply isn’t true.
How could Dr. Dean be so far off the mark? Not to mention Senator Hillary Clinton? On May 26, she told CNN, “during the Clinton administration, abortions went down, and they’ve gone back up under the Bush administration.” Or Senator John Kerry, who told “Meet the Press” on Jan. 30: “And do you know that in fact abortion has gone up in these last few years …?”
It’s a politically useful claim for those who want to discredit efforts to protect the unborn. But it simply isn’t true.
the-tidings.com/2005/0610/lifeissues.htm
When Howard Dean, the Democratic National Committee Chair, hurled that “25 percent” factoid at Tim Russert during a recent broadcast of “Meet the Press,” all the host could do was cut to commercial. But there was good reason to challenge him.
According to data from the Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), abortions are continuing their gradual 20-year decline. AGI’s interim figures show 0.8 percent fewer abortions nationwide in 2001 than in 2000, and a similar drop in 2002. No more recent figures are available nationwide.
To suggest an increase in abortions is a politically useful claim for those who want to discredit efforts to protect the unborn. But it simply isn’t true.
How could Dr. Dean be so far off the mark? Not to mention Senator Hillary Clinton? On May 26, she told CNN, “during the Clinton administration, abortions went down, and they’ve gone back up under the Bush administration.” Or Senator John Kerry, who told “Meet the Press” on Jan. 30: “And do you know that in fact abortion has gone up in these last few years …?”
It’s a politically useful claim for those who want to discredit efforts to protect the unborn. But it simply isn’t true.
the-tidings.com/2005/0610/lifeissues.htm