Guttmacher report inaccurate
I reported earlier in the week I was skeptical of The Guttmacher Institute’s most recent report indicating that by 2005 abortion had dropped 25% from its all time high of 1.6 million in 1990 to 1.2 million. Guttmacher, after all, is the research arm of the head of the abortion cabal, Planned Parenthood. Why no one in the MSM was skeptical comes as no surprise.
Now Guttmacher has been found way off its numbers in at least 1 state, Illinois. Kudos to Bill Beckman of IL Right to Life for uncovering this. According to the Chicago Tribune, January 17:
Rachel Jones, lead author of the report, noted that abortion rates can differ… from one part of the country to another. “Some states, such as Connecticut, had increases in the abortion rate,” Jones said. “But Illinois had a larger-than-average decline — the rate came down 19% from 2000 to 2005.”
Beckman responded in a Trib letter to the editor, published January 18:
… I did not recall such a drop being consistent with the data published by Illinois Dept of Public Health. I checked the IDPH Web site. [See stats right; click to enlarge]….
Abortions in 2000 were 45,884 and in 2005 43,409. That change is only a 5.4% drop, far lower than the stated 19% drop. In my mind, this raises questions about what data is being used in the Guttmacher Institute report… and what level of reliability it should be given. If such inconsistencies exist for Illinois, what about the data for other states?
To further emphasize my point, IDPH data for 2006 shows 46,467 abortions in Illinois, higher than the total for 2000, so no decrease at all.
Why would Guttmacher lie? Lots of reasons….
One, to improve the industry’s image as being anti-abortion and pro-prevention, like the tobacco industry and its lame anti-smoking campaigns.
Two, to create false studies showing that states with pro-life laws do not have lower abortion rates than states without. IL, for instance, has no pro-life laws whatsoever. No clinic regulations. No Women’s Right to Know. Its parental notification law has been tied up in the courts for 12 years.
Another possibility would be to create false studies showing states with more abstinence education have higher pregnancy rates than states with more comprehensive sex ed.
Etc., etc., etc. We’ll see what they do with this. They’ve already succeeded in comforting liberals and perhaps lulling certain pro-lifers into complacency.
It was so easy to prove Guttmacher wrong. What bold-faced liars. Its IL numbers are wildly off compared to legitimate stats accessible on the Internet. Where is MSM?
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
So typical of Guttmacher.
Great article, Jill.
So where does this leave us…theoretically, this is the one source that the pro-choice side will accept, and now they’re lying…Is anyone going to check other states to see if this has happened across the board?
Gee, do you think Eric Zorn would be interested?
It used to be you could at least count on their numbers.
Sheesh.
How do you know the abortion lobby is lying? Their lips are moving.
Great job Jill! This report obviously has some serious problems – questionable data and failure to recongize the statistically significant decline in the percentage of sexually experienced teens since the 1990s…
I’m working on putting together a site documenting the problems with their studies, and I’ll be sure to include this info, along with a hat tip for my source ..
I just want to post a little story for you, just to make you all think about abstinence only sex-ed and banning abortion…
In the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, there was a girl who entered into a relationship with a boy she liked about 5 years back. This girl had very strict fundamentalist Christian parents, and was raised on abstinence only sex-ed, and wasn’t taught anything about sex, intercourse, pregnancy, etc. In her short-lived but passionate relationship, she became pregnant. Out of fear, she kept the pregnancy a secret from her friends, family, etc, and carried the baby to term. When she was finally due, she spent 36 hours in labor, locked in her bathroom.
When the baby was born, she strangled it.
Now, exact details of the story and being left out, and parts of it were vague when I read it, and it’s been speculated that the child may have just been a stillborn, but just sit back and think about that with an unbiased mind. All of you. Jill. MK. HisMan. Jasper. Elizabeth. All of you.
Think of what this girl had to go through, and what she’ll have to live with for the rest of her life.
Is that really what you want?
A trickster I may be
But this is no laughing matter
Sincerely,
Naniboujou
Naniboujou,
If the girl was taught abstinence only sex-ed, she would have been informed of sex, what intercourse is, and about pregnancy and STD’s. If you’re being taught to be abstinent, what are you taught to be abstinent from? Obviously, sex.
And no, we don’t want girls strangling their newborns, in the same way that we don’t want girls aborting their unborn children.
Same difference. The girl who has an abortion will have to live with that for the rest of her life, just as a girl who strangles her newborn will have to live with it the rest of her life. Both are equally tragic, and we want both not to happen.
Naniboujou, that is not an argument in favor of legal abortion. Since rape is illegal and I don’t have access to a safe legal rape, I may go crazy and kill someone because of my sexual frustration. Is that really what you want?
Great point, Bobby!
Naniboujou,
Back in the late 1980s, one of my cousin’s girlfriends got pregnant, hid the pregnancy, and delivered the baby into a toilet, and the baby died.
Obviously she wasn’t abstaining from sexual relations, nor using contraception consistently (or it failed).
The point is, contraception or abortion didn’t prevent the death of the baby, nor the trauma she and my cousin went through. And no, abstinence or abortion bans were not to blame for this situation either.
I just had to sign a paper saying I was okay with my daughter participating in the sex ed. part of the health curriculum at her Jr. High. (7th grade.) It’s an abstinence curriculum (as are all in the surrounding districts) and our county has the lowest teen pregnancy rate in Illinois. Coincidence? I think not. (I DO think it might be the birthing video they make them watch though… LOL)
Naniboujou,
Contraceptives and abortion are legal.
This lady still killed her newborn.
Contraceptives and abortion don’t prevent or cure mental illness.
Similarly plenty of unmarried folks have sex but there is still rape.
Abortion hasn’t fixed any social or psychological problems for anyone and hasn’t made life better for women.
Women are now more likely than ever to be single parents.
“Think of what this girl had to go through, and what she’ll have to live with for the rest of her life.”
————————
I throw this back at you, Naniboujou,if the girl chose abortion…would the result be any different?
And you just demonstrated a perfect example of the pro-abort’s skewed understanding of what abstinence education is.
TRUE Abstinence education means you FULLY understand the natural process in the relationship between man and woman, the purpose of sex in pro-creation under the mantle of marriage and the natural development of life in the womb.
Given this FULL knowledge, one CHOOSES to abstain from having sexual relations until one is mature/ selfless/ independent enough to handle the responsibilty of parenthood.
In another sense, abstinence is a “PRO-CHOICE” stand in the REAL meaning of the word choice.
why would they lie? hmmmmmmmmmmm:
The Guttmacher Institute has played a leading role in the movement for women’s sexual and reproductive rights since the institute’s inception in 1968, when it was founded as the “Center for Family Planning Program Development”, a semiautonomous division of The Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guttmacher_Institute
Sharon L. Camp is President and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, the leading policy research organization in the field of sexual and reproductive health. Prior to joining Guttmacher, Dr. Camp was President and CEO of Women
All this talk about children and sex in marriage makes me wonder what people did before religions and/or governments. Seemed people got by fine then, before the Catholic, or Christianity all together, existed.
Just curiosity/a thought
*thinks*
All this talk about children and sex in marriage makes me wonder what people did before religions and/or governments. Seemed people got by fine then, before the Catholic, or Christianity all together, existed.
Dan, there have been religions since the beginning of time. I don’t think you can even trace history back to a point where there was no religion.
Dan, what is your opinion on Guttmacher?
RSD, 8:46 AM,
“In another sense, abstinence is a “PRO-CHOICE” stand in the REAL meaning of the word choice.”
Isn’t that the truth!
Naniboujou
Ever heard of “safe haven” laws? What’s the excuse NOW?
PLUS..you can’t stop people from being crazy and killing their newborns..legal abortion or not. People still kill their babies/kids and abortion IS legal.
They aren’t even good liars..you would think if you did it for a living..you might be better at it then they are. Guess not.
Elizabeth, the sad part is, they don’t HAVE to be good liars. They have all the support of the pro-abortion crowd who will believe anything they say, simply because they are for abortion.
Ruben, 7:59a, said: “I’ll be sure to include this info, along with a hat tip for my source ..”
Haha. I just added you as a source on my previous post, dear boy… :)
Anon, 8:52a: I didn’t know Camp was the prez of Gutt! Great find. Thanks.
One of the many reasons why the anti-choice crowd will never succeed…..the lack of ability to actually understand the things that you are addressing.
For instance, there is a significant difference between the abortion RATE, which the Guttmacher report addressed, and the NUMBER of abortions, which is what the IDPH report is talking about. God, you people are stupid.
Anon 10:14,
Could you please elucidate?
Jill,
Thanks for the great post.
Just this week on Wednesday, referring to the same Tribune article, Kathy O’Malley (of the “Kathy and Judy Show” on WGN talk radio) posed this simple question to her radio listeners: “Why do you think the abortion rate is decreasing?”. Neither she nor her callers questioned the validity of the Guttmacher study.
Guttmacher -they’re as wicked as PP.
Jill,
>>Haha. I just added you as a source on my previous post, dear boy… :)
ha ha! what a pain I am sometimes!!! lol but once again, this was a great post. I’ll keep you posted regarding the other website, which is related to your post on this report (I haven’t told you the name of the site yet…)
Once I have it set up, I’ll call you.
Ruben
The Guttmacher Institute just violated the first 2 of the 6 Company values (as stated on their website):
A) attention to methodological rigor and accuracy as fundamental to the integrity and credibility of the Institute
Elizabeth, not all states have safe haven laws. Surprisingly, I dont think MA has one, but I need to further search that.
As for Guttmacher, there information as as good as the numbers they get and their researchers, just like any other research foundation.
And Bethany, I should have said before organized monotheistic religion. Before monotheism, everything was much more individualized and available. The gods were more for protection than a service perse. Thats still true in a different way with the Eastern religions, much more individual based than based in a collective whole, yet it remains unselfish, etc, like the monotheistic traditions.
Speaking of which I just got back my 15 page comparative world religions paper back today. 95. WOOT. ANND I’m a second semester senior. heh heh.
Oh, and as for the bit about tracing back to when there was no religion, that depends on how you view the beginning of the universe, whole different issue there ;)
Anonymous @10:14: You have a good point about making sure we’re looking at the right numbers, but for the abortion rate to drop 19% over five years while the absolute numbers went up, there would have had to be a HUGE increase in the population of women aged 15-44 in Illinois. I haven’t looked at the numbers, but I don’t believe there has been.
Er, sorry, the numbers didn’t go up from 2000-2005. I was looking at 2006 (and yikes, what happened *then*?)
Elizabeth, not all states have safe haven laws. Surprisingly, I dont think MA has one, but I need to further search that.
This is true…but I bet if I were a 16-year old girl and I took a newborn I had just given birth to to a fire station and said if they didn’t take it I might strangle it for fear of my parents finding out..I’m sure they would take the baby.
That’s just my hunch though.
I hope they are making efforts to get laws like these enacted in every state however.
I’m not sure if anything is going on with a bill like that in MA or not.
But see, either way the mother gets busted. Granted abandonment charges most likely come with a lower sentences. Yes they should take the kid (otherwise they could become accessories to murder I think), but the mother could still go to jail.
“God’s Law or Chaos”.
TGI, PP and all the other vermin are naturals at creating chaos. Without fail. Like Satan. It’s expected. Our job: To continue diligently!
To date 46 states have enacted Safe Haven legislation to provide a vehicle for the safe relinquishment of unwanted newborns.
Carla, do you think the Safe Haven rules are good?
My first impression is, “thank goodness,” as in comparison with being left on doorsteps, etc., but I wonder if some people won’t think that it should not be allowed, i.e. that the mother should have to keep the baby, at least long enough to arrange for adoption, etc…?
Doug
Yes, Doug I do believe Safe Haven rules are a good thing.
Doug,
Considering that the people who would utilize the safe haven laws are VERY young girls who have not let anyone know they are pregnant and freak out after they have the baby, YES they are a great thing. Plus, they give the girl about 2 weeks to decide if she really made the right decision and can come back and get the baby after she makes arrangements (i.e. tells her parents..although, how parents can NOT know their kid is preggo, and giving birth probably in their home is beyond me)..I think all in all they are a very good thing. But, in my mind, there is no legitimate reason to strangle your baby, safe haven laws or not..but I’ve never been a pregnant 12-year old either. People do crazy things in desperate situations, so if these laws can help eliminate that..I’m ALL for them.
Thanks, Carla, and Elizabeth – great reply. I didn’t know there were 2 weeks to decide, but of course that makes sense and I’m glad of it.
Although I am glad we have Safe Havens, I find it sad. Sad and heartbreaking but Necessary. Elizabeth, I have often wondered the same thing. How do teenagers carry a pregnancy to term without anyone finding out, have it in the bathroom at the prom and go out and dance or have the baby at home? No long labors, no epidurals, no coaching at all? These poor, desperate girls.
Carla,
They are probably scared and in denial. However, most births world wide are not attended by professionals and there is no pain relief. Our world is not the world. My births were fast, easy unmedicated and uncoached. I only had maybe 15 minutes of real pain. If I had known it would be so easy, I would have stayed home by myself.