Does Rhetoric Reduce the Number of Abortions?

Kevin DeYoung:

The Guttmacher Institute is a pro-choice organization which seeks to advance sexual and reproductive health and rights worldwide through research, education, and policy analysis. Last summer they released a major study called "Trends in the Characteristics of Women Obtaining Abortions, 1974-2004." On page 14, the authors seek to understand why the abortion rate has decreased among young women.

About half of unintended pregnancies in the United States end in abortion, but the percentages have varied over time, as have the proportion of pregnancies that are unintended. Despite the sharp increase in the legal abortion rate after the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, the rate remained fairly stable through the 1980s, and then declined steadily through 2004. A substantial drop in the abortion rates of teenagers and women aged 20–24 accounts for much of the overall decline from 1989 to 2004.

A large part of the drop among teenagers is likely attributable to more use of contraceptives and more effective method use. However, the decrease in the abortion rates among teenagers and women aged 20–24 from the early 1990s to 2001 was accompanied by an increase in the proportion of unintended pregnancies ending in birth, suggesting that at least part of the decline in the abortion rate among these women was due to an increase in the proportion of unintended pregnancies continued to a birth. Among the possible reasons for this are greater acceptance in society of nonmarital childbearing, more difficulties in obtaining abortion services in some parts of the United States and changing attitudes toward abortion (emphasis added).

It would seem to be commonsense, as indeed the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute suggests, that if abortion services are more difficult to obtain (i.e., abortion funding decreases, abortion access is more limited, more restrictions on abortion are put in place) that fewer women will have abortions. And yet, some evangelicals and Catholics continue to argue that our politicians can do just the opposite of all this and still be serious about reducing abortions.

The simple fact--that no amount of rhetoric can erase--is that Pro-Choice groups are celebrating the President's First Hundred Days as signaling positive changes related to reproductive rights, from rescinding the global gag rule to increasing funding for international and domestic family planning programs to a host of other "accomplishments."

The other simple fact is that pro-choice policies and regulations do not reduce the number of abortions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the legal abortion rate per 1000 women, aged 15-44, decreased 13.6% from 1996 to 2005 (22.4 to 19.4). Only 9 states have seen their abortion rate (measuring occurences of abortions in the state) increase since 1996, and only one state has seen its rate increase since 1987. That state is Maryland, which has had FOCA (Freedom of Choice Act) type legislation on the books since 1991. Maryland's abortion rate increased from 27.6 in 1987 to 31.5 in 2005. Since this statistic measures where the abortions took place and since the rate in Washington D.C. went down during the same time period, it's possible that some women whose residence is in D.C. had their abortion in Maryland, thus driving up the average. But this would only further show that women will have more abortions in places where there are looser abortion laws.

The point of all this is to get evangelicals and Catholics to think a minute. Refusing to say when life begins, increasing funding for abortions abroad and at home, cutting abstinence only programs, announcing plans to overturn regulations that allow providers discretion regarding birth contol and abortion services, opposing the ban on partial birth abortion, opposing legislation akin to the Born Alive Infants Protection Act, and stating your unwavering commitment to nominate justices who will uphold Roe v. Wade are not the opinions and actions of one who is deeply and consistently concerned that the number of abortions be reduced. No matter how much pro-lifers are listened to and engaged in dialogue, the folks at Emily's List, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Planned Parenthood know they are the ones who have real reason to celebrate.

Let us not vent our disapproval. Let us persuade and pray.