No one wants more abotrtions, but I question the statement that it is unilaterally good news. The next question after seeing these results should be, "What are pregnant women doing?" If the declining rate of abortion is a result of fewer unintended pregancies and greater use of and access to birth control, then it is indeed good news. If these children are being born into loving and mature households, then we should all cheer.

But what if the declining rate is due to more women being misinformed about abortion? What if they are being duped by the anti-choice lobby into believing that an abortion will cause breast cancer and make them horribly depressed for the rest of their lives?

What if these women who would have previously had an abortion are now 16 year old mothers with little to no money, no way to finish school, and a very difficult future?

What if there are fewer abortions because clinics are being closed and fewer women have acccess to the reproductive healthcare they need?

If any of these ar a factor into the declining abortion rate, then I would say that there is no good news to be had here.

"What if....?"

Hahaha.

"What if's" don't make a discussion and in this case not even a rant.

what if a meteor wipes out the entire planet? shit happens..

ArgusRun:

No one wants more abotrtions, but I question the statement that it is unilaterally good news. The next question after seeing these results should be, "What are pregnant women doing?" If the declining rate of abortion is a result of fewer unintended pregancies and greater use of and access to birth control, then it is indeed good news. If these children are being born into loving and mature households, then we should all cheer.

But what if the declining rate is due to more women being misinformed about abortion? What if they are being duped by the anti-choice lobby into believing that an abortion will cause breast cancer and make them horribly depressed for the rest of their lives?

What if these women who would have previously had an abortion are now 16 year old mothers with little to no money, no way to finish school, and a very difficult future?

What if there are fewer abortions because clinics are being closed and fewer women have acccess to the reproductive healthcare they need?

If any of these ar a factor into the declining abortion rate, then I would say that there is no good news to be had here.

Argus,

Thank you for your post as it opens up a lot of avenues for further discussion and research (ignored by the two posters above).

I did a quick google search and found this article [pdf]

<link>

I haven't had time to look through it, but that would be a good place to begin. I've also tried finding some stats for adoptions and foster child demographics--if there has been an increase in unwanted pregnancies come to term, one might expect to find more kids put up for adoption (although not necessarily). I couldn't find a good summation of the numbers though, so still looking.