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September 25, 2005ABORTION DISTORTION: THE TAIL STILL WAGS THE DOGHorsefeathers has no axe to grind in the abortion debate. Most Americans—men as well as women—are fair-minded about the matter. They understand that some religious people are offended by the practice and respect their beliefs; and they also understand that some women may decide to have an abortion for various reasons at some point in their lives, and can accept those realities. Only the ideologues—politically active feminists, politically active right-to-lifers, and, oh, yes, the left wing of the Democratic Party and the New York Times make the big noise about abortion. Women who need one get one, often regretfully and without fanfare or a sense of political triumph. And although the rate of abortions is continually decreasing because of the number of convenient and effective contraceptive devices, the event of the Supreme Court nominations has roused the New York Times propaganda machine to keep the public on the boil lest it realize that abortion is increasingly becoming a dead issue except in the minds and hearts of the political ideologues, left and right. The article by reporter John Leland that appeared in the Sunday Times of September 18, after the hearings, was meant to remind us that there were still women who needed abortions and to emphasize that abortion was still a very important issue in this country. As you would expect in a New York Times social-conscience article, there was enough moist pathos and self-pity to launch a battleship. But what stands out most in the article are the factual distortions that the reporter creates in the service of the Timesview, which is that Abortion, with a capital A, is still an issue of mainstream politics—the same disinformation that Senators Schumer and Feinstein were feeding the American public in the form of leading questions to Judge Roberts during the hearings last week. Between the lamentations of the young women he has selected to interview and depict, our reporter asserts that abortion remains one of the most common surgical procedures for women in America. Then he adds for emphasis that more than a million women a year have abortions, and as though to clinch the argument with a home run, he tells us that since Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, twenty-five million women have had abortions. Well, hell, that’s pretty impressive, you think, trying to catch your breath from the statistical body-blow. Twenty-five million women is a lot of women. But hold on there, wait a minute…twenty-five million in 32 years…that averages out to only 781,000 a year. And when you divide the number of women of child-bearing age in America—sixty million—into that average you get the important result 1.3%. In other words, these days (in the nineties the percentages were a bit higher, but not significantly) only slightly more than 1 percent a year of all women of child-bearing age avail themselves of surgical abortions, and if you include women of all ages, tax-payers all, the number for whom abortion is a relevant issue drops to 0.6%. Attention, attention, Senator Schumer, can you hear us way up there on Mars? You made such a point, during the hearings, that Judge Roberts must have values that are in the “main stream.” Well guess what, Senator, your concerns about Roe v. Wade, and those of Senator Feinstein and the editorial board of the New York Times are not “main stream.” Abortion as practiced is far out of the mainstream, way out in the tail of the curve, past two standard deviations of interest to the average woman. The women for whom abortion has any practical meaning, in these days of wide contraceptive choice, are women who are largely from the underclass—ill informed and less resourceful. And based on the behavior of the Gang of Four on the Judiciary Committee—Kennedy, Schumer, Feinstein, and Durbin—which seemed to suggest that Roe v. Wade trumped everything else on their political agenda, this appears to be the most important constituency of the left wing of the Democratic Party. The special interest groups are still wagging the party. 
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Comments
You're not far off in saying that underclass women are targeted by the Dems. One of Kerry's daughters showed up in our town to make an appeal to unmarried single mothers, urging them to vote for her Dad.
These girls -- and I do mean girls -- are not even registered. They are as apolitical as they come. Any views they have are a mish-mash of TV comedians and MTV. Their ignorance about history, government, etc., is breath-taking. Nor are they concerned about closing the gap between themselves and the large body of knowledge they don't possess.
They live almost completely in the present: what matters is now, today, this week. Who cares beyond the next distraction?
What is sad is the lack of counseling available to them before they have their abortions. There is a growing consensus re the ABC connection. That is, a woman over thirty or under 18 who has a history of BRCA in her close family members *and* who terminates a pregnancy without having first carried one to term sends her risk for developing breast cancer skyrocketing into the almost absolutely. Those factors have to be there, though -- this is not true for all young women.
An 18 y.o. recently won a settlement with an abortion clinic in Washington state for their failure to tell her this when she went in for "counseling" at the age of 15. It was her first pregnancy, her mother had breast cancer and she chose to terminate the pregnancy because it was presented as a safe choice for her. Which, as it turns out, it wasn't. Had she experienced a spontaneous abortion, the risk wouldn't have been there.
The breast cancer rate has been rising, though I don't have the figures. Eventually *some* of the increase may be traced to voluntary abortions, but it's not information the breast cancer industry or the abortion clinic business wants put out there.
Funny how it's merely a medical procedure but the pro-choice adherents have made of it a rite of passage.
Posted by: Dymphna![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://doctor-horsefeathers.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 27, 2005 06:53 PM
Yale you are fair.
Most Americans are pro-choice and pro-life. They feel in their bones that there is something tragic and ugly and unneccesary about (induced) abortions for the purpose of convenience or birth control. Most Americans of course favor contraceptives (in or out of marriage) and tolerate pre-marital sex. Even among lay Catholics only a minority eschew artificial birth control in PRACTICE before during and after a marriage. Since 1929 all major Protestant denominations have accepted the reality that most of their (nominal) members will use articificial birth control for their private members anyway so they have embraced birth control. Of course childlessness in marriage (as a choice ) and abortion on demand are ordinary choices in fact political rights. For some they are even considered SUPERIOR MORAL CHOICES. After all there are too many people in the world, too many children, too many immigrants too much pollution etc. etc.
Nonetheless most Americans realize abortion is not just a choice like having a coffee with or without cream but is a moral question.
My pro-life co-relgionists (some of whom are anti-contraception as well) believe with all their hearts and souls that abortions is as evil as slavery or the holocaust.
To them it is a modern holocaust of the innocents. To them it is all about GREED (profits for abortionists) and SELFISHNESS (excessive individualism and hedonism).
You are right when you say that most Americans "understand that some religious people are offended by the practice and respect their beliefs; and they also understand that some women may decide to have an abortion for various reasons at some point in their lives, and can accept those realities."
I am a Catholic and I accept the fact that the world I live in is not Catholic. I don't expect people to hold my beliefs in fact I expect to suffer for my beliefs. I expect to be attacked and ridiculed.
But abortion is not the number one issue for me and I am not obsessed with it. But I don't like it and will never feel happy about it as long as I live. I pray that young women will choice families and life over a culture of death. But I recognize they need to make that choice themselves.
MORALLY I oppose abortion because I am pro-family and pro-life. BUT I accept the fact that it is a legal choice for CONSENTING ADULTS. Where I draw the line is the idea that teenagers should be put on the pill and have access to abortions without the consent or knowledge of their parents or guardians.
Speaking of numbers....Twenty-five million women is a lot of women. As you say it averages out to less than 800,000 a year -still a staggering figure.
But there is another number you haven't mentioned. The huge profits generated by the baby-stopping business. Abortion is a very simple and very profitable procedure. I wonder how many abortion doctors there would be if they were taxed heavily for the procedure (after all we are losing future workers and defenders of our country ). I wonder how many abortion doctors would do the procedure for free out of the kindness of their hearts. Perhaps a few.
In my view society can tolerate a few abortions here and there. It can tolerate women reducing their fertility rate.
But demography IS DESTINY. No culture, no language, no society can surive if it is ZPG or NEGATIVE IN POPULATION GROWTH. A society of geriatic childless couples will eventually lose all vitality and the ability to defend itself or pass on its language and culture.
That is the real issue to me. DO WE HAVE A BELIEF IN THE FUTURE. DO WE BELIEVE OUR VALUES AND OUR LANGUAGE(S) are worthy to be passed on? I remember the people I came from. I owe them so much...my liberty and my material security...and my life. For that I am very thankful. I know I will die but it gives me great joy to know that even though I am an insignificant person I have contributed to the future of my country in a postive way. This is pleasing to the spirits of my ancestors and to my God, I believe.
What is not good will die off eventually. What is strong and good will endure. That is the sad thing about embracing a culture of death and a cult of childlessness. It is embracing Sergeant Death. It is a retreat from life and its challenges. It is a form of societal or sexual suicde as George Gilder noted long ago.
Posted by: Richard "Ricardo" Munro![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://doctor-horsefeathers.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 29, 2005 03:28 PM
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