Monday, February 24, 2014

Abortion Rate Declines, Democrats Want More Access

Success of the pro-life movement is evident in the latest abortion tally from the Planned Parenthood affiliated Guttmacher Institute showing that the abortion rate in the U.S. is the lowest since Roe v. Wade. Not surprisingly, the abortion advocates' counterattack is headed by Democrats who believe such an offensive will rally their base voters in 2014 and 2016.
“Women’s legal right to access a safe abortion is being eliminated. We are sick and tired of losing ground.”
-- Dan Frankel (D), Pennsylvania state Representative
Although the rates of both known abortions and total pregnancies have declined -- the latter attributed to the success of unnatural birth control -- the actual loss of life is completely unknown because many birth control methods employed involve abortifacients that destroy fertilized ovum (the point at which a new human being comes to life).

For background, read Abortion Clinic Closings Set Record; Admit Defeat as well as Abortionists Lament Ever-greater State Limits

Lower pregnancy rate?  Read about the diminishing birth rate in the U.S. and worldwide

Also read how abortion kills most black children in New York - Genocide

-- From "Study: Abortion rate at lowest point since 1973" by Sandhya Somashekhar, Washington Post 2/2/14

There were fewer than 17 abortions for every 1,000 women in 2011, the latest year for which figures were available, according a paper published Monday from the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion-rights think tank. That is down 13 percent from 2008 and a little higher than the rate in 1973, when the Supreme Court handed down its landmark Roe v. Wade decision.

The study . . . shows that, after a plateau from 2005 to 2008, the long-term decline in the abortion rate has resumed. The rate has dropped significantly from its all-time high in 1981, when there were roughly 30 abortions for every 1,000 women of reproductive age. The overall number of abortions also fell 13 percent from 2008 to nearly 1.1 million in 2011, the study said.

The study did not examine the reasons for the drop. But the authors suggested that one factor was greater reliance on new kinds of birth control, including intra-uterine devices such as Mirena, which can last for years and are not susceptible to user error like daily pills or condoms.

. . . Rachel K. Jones, a senior researcher at Guttmacher and lead researcher on the paper [said,] “If the abortion rate continues to drop, we can’t assume it’s all due to positive factors” such as better adherence to contraceptives, she said, calling the laws passed in 22 states “onerous.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Abortion-Rights Backers on Offense After 3-Year Drubbing" by Esmé E. Deprez, Bloomberg 2/24/14

Lawmakers are pushing back after a record number of laws since 2010 forced dozens of clinics to close and made it harder for women to terminate pregnancies or prevent them in the first place. Backers see the movement as a winning election strategy for the Democratic Party as it presents itself as supportive of women.

Amanda Allen, state legislative counsel at the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which fights anti-abortion laws in court, calls this year a “tipping point.”

Abortion-rights supporters said they’re pressing forward, even if their efforts fail, to demonstrate they know how to fight back.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Abortions Declining in U.S., Study Finds" by Erik Eckholm, New York Times 2/2/14

. . . “Some of the new regulations undoubtedly made it more difficult, and costly, for facilities to continue to provide services and for women to access them.” The [Guttmacher] researchers said that future studies would need to monitor the effects of laws that restrict abortions.

Responding to an advance copy of the report, Americans United for Life, an anti-abortion group, called it “long on strained conclusions” and said it understated the impact of anti-abortion education and laws.

Carole Joffe, a sociologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and a historian of abortion, said that while the effects were difficult to quantify, the anti-abortion movement had “been very successful at stigmatizing abortion” and that this had most likely influenced the long-term downward trend.

One striking development revealed in the survey is the rising use of medication abortions, normally within the first nine weeks of pregnancy. In 2011, medication abortions accounted for 23 percent of abortions reported by clinics and private doctors. Several states have recently acted to limit access to such abortions.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "The Next Battle in the Abortion Wars" by Robin Marty, Politico 2/17/14

. . . Abortion opponents continue to use legislative bills to pass full bans on ways to administer an abortion in one state, only to watch them spread. The use of FDA protocol abortion drug restrictions, which cause practitioners to use a decade-old solution rather than current best practice, has all but eliminated the ability for pregnant patients to obtain medication abortions in Ohio; it has been proposed or passed in Mississippi, Oklahoma and North Dakota, as well. Now, South Dakota’s potential ban on “dismemberment of a live fetus” could follow a similar path.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Planned Parenthood Employees View Abortion as 'Rite of Passage,' Former Nurse Says; Shares Disturbing Behavior of Doctors" by Stoyan Zaimov, Christian Post Reporter 2/21/14


A former Planned Parenthood nurse said that employees at the abortion facility in Indianapolis view abortion as a "rite of passage," and described the institution as an "evil and sad place to work," revealing some of the disturbing behavior of its doctors.

Marianne Anderson, who worked at Planned Parenthood from 2010 to 2012, shared in an interview last week . . . some of the experiences around her job that stuck with her, including treating a Korean girl she was sure was a sex slave. She also described the disturbing behavior of some of the doctors:
"One doctor, when he was in the POC (products of conception) room, would talk to the aborted baby while looking for all the parts. 'Come on, little arm, I know you're here! Now you stop hiding from me!' It just made me sick to my stomach."
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

MSNBC Contributor: Pregnancy Involves a Life – ‘For Some People’ (video):