Deborah Lipp

This is really Amanda‘s hobby horse, but hello to being proven right. Here’s what greeted me when I turned on the computer this morning (emphasis added):

LONDON – Women are just as likely to get an abortion in countries where it is outlawed as they are in countries where it is legal, according to research published Friday.

In a study examining abortion trends from 1995 to 2003, experts also found that abortion rates are virtually equal in rich and poor countries, and that half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe…

“The legal status of abortion has never dissuaded women and couples, who, for whatever reason, seek to end pregnancy,” Beth Fredrick of the International Women’s Health Coalition in the U.S. said in an accompanying commentary.

Abortion accounts for 13 percent of maternal mortality worldwide. About 70,000 women die every year from unsafe abortions. An additional 5 million women suffer permanent or temporary injury.

“The continuing high incidence of unsafe abortion in developing countries represents a public health crisis and a human rights atrocity,” Fredrick wrote.

So, if you think that abortion itself is morally wrong, then obviously you want to prevent it, right? And legal obstacles don’t prevent abortion. So you’ll obviously want to work to make birth control accessible and affordable, right? And to inform women about it?

And if you’re pro-life, then the high rate of death from illegal abortion concerns you. Obviously. So keeping abortion safe and hygienic is vital, and keeping it legal helps ensure that.

This sounds like sarcasm, but as snide as my tone is, I’m not being sarcastic. It is absolutely true that if you want to prevent abortion and preserve life, then safe, legal abortion combined with safe, legal, accessible, inexpensive birth control is the way to make that happen. The fact that the “pro-life” (snort) movement doesn’t favor any of those things doesn’t mean it’s not true. It means they’re not pro-life. No matter what a “pro-life” person says, if they don’t support policies which are proven to reduce abortion rates and preserve the lives of women, then they have a different agenda.

I understand they are changing their name to the “Punish Slutty Women” movement. Okay, that was sarcasm.