Analyzing the recent Guttmacher Study showing a drop in abortion

An excellent analysis posted on the Witherspoon Institute "Public Discourse" website. The author is Richard Doerflinger, Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Acivties, U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. 

The Guttmacher Institute is an important reserch arm of the pro-abortion movement and are biased toward explaining the drop in terms of the "wider use of contraceptives."

It is well worth the ten minute investment of time needed to read this article. Then pass it on.

The study was published by the Guttmacher Institute, described by the Washington Post as a “pro-abortion-rights think tank.” Guttmacher is a former research affiliate of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the nation. Because it is trusted by abortion providers and gets its information directly from them, Guttmacher’s abortion data are often more complete than those gathered by the federal government from state health departments. But the group also has an ideological agenda. So as we welcome its data, we need to be cautious of its “spin.”

That spin is in full gear. Based on little evidence, the authors dismiss the possibility that the decline in abortion could be due largely to the passage of pro-life state laws. (Even here, though, they make exceptions—conceding that abortion rates may be reduced by bans on public abortion funding, and by laws requiring women seeking an abortion to make two visits to a clinic separated by a 24-hour waiting period.) They also say the 13 percent drop in abortions from 2008 to 2011 is probably not due to a further decline in abortion providers, because their numbers are almost unchanged. Instead, they attribute the decline to wider use of contraception, and especially to increased use of “LARCs” (long-acting reversible contraceptives) like the IUD and hormonal implants. These, say Guttmacher, are less prone than other contraceptives to “user error.” - See more at: http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/02/12052/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=14a3fe23bb-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-14a3fe23bb-84114469#sthash.8btIKPFC.dpuf

 

Richard M. Doerflinger is Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. - See more at: http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/02/12052/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=14a3fe23bb-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-14a3fe23bb-84114469#sthash.8btIKPFC.dpuf

Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. - See more at: http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/02/12052/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=14a3fe23bb-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-14a3fe23bb-84114469#sthash.8btIKPFC.dpuf

Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. - See more at: http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/02/12052/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=14a3fe23bb-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-14a3fe23bb-84114469#sthash.8btIKPFC.dpuf

Associate Director of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. - See more at: http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2014/02/12052/?utm_source=The+Witherspoon+Institute&utm_campaign=14a3fe23bb-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15ce6af37b-14a3fe23bb-84114469#sthash.8btIKPFC.dpuf