This column is a beautiful example of the ways in which some conservatives will twist "scientific evidence" to their points of view. In the process, the writer casually names a list of young women, a few of whom, statistically, he suggests, have had abortions while dad's working in the White House. Incredible. How is this not slander, editors? Not to mention laughably illogical? He doesn't even seem to mind sliming conservatives' daughters while he's at it. Why not list all the male writers at Slate, and compare them to the statistics for wife beaters? OK, since we're talking stats, let's look at the abortion rates for women in this income/status/education range. I think you're going to be looking at some different numbers.What the abortion issue is about is the fact that women often have to make a *choice* (and I hope it won't soon become a matter of enforced pregnancies for all, under any circumstances) when they do not have money, education or a supportive family.

Yeah, who is he to say that statistics can be used to determine the probability of an event happening, and then from that probability to determine the expected number of said events within a given population? Sounds like a bunch of commie bull to me.

OK, let's do that, except with real logic rather than Saletan's specious BS. Again, shall we name the male writers of Slate and compare them with stats for wife-beaters, so we can consider who/how many of them are likely smacking wifey around? Even if we allow for education/income, does that small subset of male writers perhaps contain other factors that might alter that outcome?

Or let's look at it another way: According to stats, what would be the awful outcome of adopting the more liberal abortion policies of Western Europe?

World abortion rates are ... lowest in more liberal countries like Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, where there are 10 abortions for every 1,000 women.

There are 19 abortions per 1,000 women annually in the U.S.

If you're really against abortion, you need to make sure young women are educated, contraception is readily available and abortion safe and legal to keep overall rates lowest. The first two reasons (education, contraception) are why *teen pregnancy* rates are much lower in more liberal Western Europe than in the US. It's also why Presidents'/VP's daughters are less likely to get pregnant/have abortions to begin with, despite Saletan's ridiculous assertions. Have some of them had abortions? I don't know and don't care. I do know they are more educated and see a future for themselves, not to mention feeling the public's eyes on them every moment -- a pretty small subset of women that I don't really think fit into the stats he's citing. That seems to make them less likely to act out in a desperate act of rebellion like, oh, some folks we're hearing about on the news right now?

I too, was thinking that this could possibly considered slander.

thefeministrepublican:

I too, was thinking that this could possibly considered slander.

Others have proposed this also. However, it would be libel, not slander.

Libel is in print, slander is in speech.