Pro-life news brief 6-21-12
by JivinJ, host of the blog, JivinJehoshaphat
- At The Atlantic Cities, Richard Florida discusses the geography of abortion in the United States. Much of it shows how incredibly wrong pro-choicers are when they act as if pro-life policies do nothing to affect the abortion rate (emphasis mine):
First and foremost, the geography of abortion follows the red and blue political patterning of the states. It is positively associated with the share of state voters who voted for Obama in 2008 (.60 to .65) and negatively associated with McCain votes (-.58 to -.63). This is a dramatic change from 1974-1988, the period covered by the 1994 NBER study, which found that “extensive Republican or Democratic control in a state is uncorrelated with abortion rates.” …Abortion is most strongly associated with the fault-line of socio-economic class, across three key dimensions—income, education, and occupation. Abortion rates track closely with the wealth and affluence of states: the richer the location, the higher the rate of abortions (the correlations between the two range from .53 to .65). This effect is in line with previous studies and thus appears to be of long standing.
- The Detroit News has a lackluster editorial which attempts to argue that providing regulations on the abortion industry is bad because it would make abortions “needlessly costly and cumbersome.” The editorial claims abortion clinic regulations aren’t needed because “physicians already are personally licensed by the state and have to adhere to professional standards governing their treatment decisions. A state medical board will suspend or strip a doctor’s license if he or she violates the standards.”
Later, it notes a report which showed a number of abortionists who have violated basic medical standards and are still licensed but claims new regulations aren’t need because “weeding out bad actors through heightened surveillance and enforcement of laws on the books would be a better approach than onerous new restrictions that discourage good doctors from providing the service. Perhaps the state’s enforcement division needs more inspectors.”
- Live Action has released another video showing two abortion clinics in North Carolina willing to perform sex-selection abortions. The local Planned Parenthood caught on tape has issued a statement from the national office. No word on whether the employee was fired or not:
[Image via stkarnick.com]
Nate Silver (famous for correctly predicting the results of the 2008 election in its entirety) noted something similar about pro-life vs. pro-choice states a while ago:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/06/pro-life-states-have-lower-abortion.html
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Love the geography of abortion. Smart states rule.
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You can keep it. I’d rather be in dumb states that don’t condone the killing of children. Similar reason to why I claim Arkansas as my home state even though I was born and raised most of my life in California. The people might not be as learned in Arkansas, but at least they have basic human decency.
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Kind of demolishes that “Only Moral Abortion” pile of anecdotes the ‘borts like to claim constitutes data, though, doesn’t it? :D
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Define smart.
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Just a thought, why are trolls allowed to post comments here at all? The hatred that rolls around after one of their comments (in response to their hatred) makes my stomach hurt sometimes. (I guess I’m just tired tonight – this post was not hateful I’m remembering previous posts aka Chinese women deserve forced abortions b/c “they knew the rules”…) sorry for the thought dump.
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Being educated does not make you smart – it makes you educated.
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Good point, LifeJoy. With the logic that education=intelligence, one would have to accept that Africans must just be huge idiots.
Although I think education is very important, being smart (however one might define that) is certainly not a virtue. Many of the most evil people in history were quite intelligent. A person can use his or her intelligence for good or evil. And vice-verse…some of the most kind hearted, helpful people I know have developmental delays.
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Uh oh! You know what this means?
Smart people aren’t replenishing their population like the “dumb” people are and soon all the smart people will be outnumbered! *gasp*
I bet Maggie Sanger is rolling in her grave right now wondering how her grand plan to get more children from the “fit” and less from the “unfit” backfired so terribly…
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Even better point, SM … Being smart does not make you virtuous.
Though some people act as if smartness is THE virtue which makes the abandonment or adoption of all other virtues a mindful decision, which then excuses any lack of real goodness (in favor of some functional goal).
And, yeah Kel, she failed to take into account that virtue, aka not wanting to kill babies, can be educated right out of you. She probably figured that educated people would be logical and understand a little simple biology. She also didn’t factor in that she was wrong about the character of the “less desirable populations.” It would be amusing if it weren’t so disgusting.
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All good points, though of course St Paul was there before us -
18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
1 Cor 1:18-21
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But PS… although my first instinct on seeing the video was anger, I also found some compassion for the girl in the clinic whose moral sense has been so catastrophically eviscerated by the culture she lives and works in.
She was really being KIND is the thing, she really meant well – and yet that desire to be kind and supportive has been warped into something monstrous and murderous, without her even knowing.
What I’m saying is, the devil is a smart worker – he doesn’t make us evil through and through, he just ruins what’s good in us.
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The states with high abortion rates pretty much all have large cities with heavily minority populations. Margaret Sanger’s dream of killing as many blacks and browns as she could get away with is alive and well.
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“The states with high abortion rates pretty much all have large cities with heavily minority populations.”
And those who are struggling financially make an informed decision to abort based on their personal economics. And the notion that black fertility has been impacted by abortion is just another pipe dream of the forced birther movement.
One of the reasons why abortions occur more frequently in blue states is that their abortion laws are less restrictive than in red states. There are also more facilities that perform abortions. Both factors indicate a greater access to abortions in these areas. Those who live in blue states might be more secular. If that is the case, they wouldn’t be as likely to be intimidated by religious proscriptions against abortions. It’s an interesting study.
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Hmmm or could it be, CC, that the blue states have poorer economies, and so women are more apt to feel that they can’t afford children? I would be afraid of giving in birth in ole California, let alone live there myself due to the abysmal economy. And maybe the churches and ministries that help out women in need in red states are forced out of existence in blue states thanks to prohibitive laws, taxes, and regulations.
Hmm. :)
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“Hmmm or could it be, CC, that the blue states have poorer economies, and so women are more apt to feel that they can’t afford children?”
Depends on the state and the area within the state. While NY’s economy is doing fairly well and adding jobs, there are areas within NY City that are still poor. And while California’s economy is poor, there are some spectacularly wealthy communities (Orange County, Burlingame, etc) And “churches and ministries” are tax exempt. Women in red states probably do, as you note, feel that they can’t afford more children but they end up having them because they’re access to abortion is so much more limited.
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Ah, CC, I’d put your spectacular learnedness up against my 8th grade educated Hungarian immigrant grandmother ANY DAY. Bring it.
Remember, I (and I’m sure Bobby B can back me up here), I work amongst enlightened educated people. It has absolutely nothing to do with the quality or enjoyment of life. You know that moment, at the end of each day, where you turn off the light to go to sleep and it’s just you in the darkness and silence….
I start praying for the girls in crisis who might encounter an amoral, jaded, miserable miscreant as, well, let’s see…..yourself. Who/ what good things do you pray for?
Oh, that’s right…..
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“I work amongst enlightened educated people. It has absolutely nothing to do with the quality or enjoyment of life.”
An argument can be made that the tolerance of your largely Episcopalian community, with a nearby highly rated university, would enhance the quality of life in a community. San Francisco is one of the most pleasant cities in the country. It’s also very tolerant.
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If Forrest Gump is right, and “stupid is as stupid does,” then those who support abortion aren’t as smart as they think they are.
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Tolerance is a great thing. I’m all for tolerance.
Except when it comes to the killing of the unborn at the hands of their mothers. I will always be intolerant of that.
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As to your “tax exempt” comment: Yes, perhaps, but blue states do tend to be more restrictive of all business, especially small non-profits, passing prohibitive regulations that drive smaller helping organizations away. And I’m aware some red states have similar laws, but on the whole, red states tend to be a bit less restrictive on small organizations helping other people.
But you know I think the abortion issue is much bigger than simple economics. People tend to misinterpret what they can and can’t afford. Babies are expensive, but not nearly as expensive as people make them out to be. It’s hard to take care of babies, yes, but life is hard. And I’ve seen just as many cases of women wanting an abortion for inconvenience as economic strain.
Another thing is that I believe pro-aborts usually underestimate human kindness. Families and friends can rally together and help pregnant women, and it happens more than pro-aborts would like to admit. People can be truly generous if you just reach out.
And if all that truly does fail, as I’ve said before, there is such a thing as adoption.
P.S. You never did tell me what rights are stripped of pregnant women, CC.
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