"Does legalizing abortion cause more abortions?"
In 1999, the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) published a carefully conducted study which proved that:
1. Legalizing Abortion was solely responsible for killing off --by that year 1999-- at least 11 million Generation Xers and Millennials since 1973
2. Legalizing Abortion was highly effective in limiting US native latino and black population growth.
Furthermore, the authors concluded that simply the act of BANNING ABORTION nationwide would immediately result in 440,000 more babies being born, EVERY YEAR. They did not mention any need for prior education to prepare the public. JUST BANNING ABORTION.
[The authors also do not mention that the US pre-1973 anti-abortion laws had not prosecuted or punished any woman since 1922 but perhaps it was on their mind that even a seldom enforced law might be an effective deterrent. The state laws that kept their 'fingers in the abortion dike' prior to Roe were apparently just such laws.]
[The authors also do not mention that the US pre-1973 anti-abortion laws had not prosecuted or punished any woman since 1922 but perhaps it was on their mind that even a seldom enforced law might be an effective deterrent. The state laws that kept their 'fingers in the abortion dike' prior to Roe were apparently just such laws.]
AJPH is NOT PROLIFE. They were themselves a little astounded that NO ONE had undertaken such a study before them. The simple question was: "Does legalizing abortion cause more abortions?"
Many pro-choice sophisticates have claimed that legalizing abortion does not cause more abortions, but only legitimizes the status quo. AJPH's study gives the lie to that claim.
The AJPH conclusions were based on objective statistics which revealed that in ALL the early states that legalized abortion before Roe V Wade the EXPECTED NUMBER OF LIVE BIRTHS IMMEDIATELY DIPPED after legalization (in concert with the increasing number of legal abortions). Then, when the US Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, this same dip in the number of live births occurred nationwide. From this AJPH concluded that most the babies that were being aborted would have been born if abortion had only remained criminalized.
Many pro-choice sophisticates have claimed that legalizing abortion does not cause more abortions, but only legitimizes the status quo. AJPH's study gives the lie to that claim.
The AJPH conclusions were based on objective statistics which revealed that in ALL the early states that legalized abortion before Roe V Wade the EXPECTED NUMBER OF LIVE BIRTHS IMMEDIATELY DIPPED after legalization (in concert with the increasing number of legal abortions). Then, when the US Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, this same dip in the number of live births occurred nationwide. From this AJPH concluded that most the babies that were being aborted would have been born if abortion had only remained criminalized.
This is a controversial finding because it thoroughly pulverizes the above mentioned pro-choice argument that:
'Women will get abortions whether they are legal or not, and that therefore banning abortion does not save lives but only adds costs and risks to women"
WRONG!!
WRONG!!
AN ABSTRACT FROM THE STUDY FOLLOWS (in blue and purple font)
P B Levine, D Staiger, T J Kane, and D J Zimmerman
Published Online: October 07, 2011
OBJECTIVES: This article examines the effect of abortion legalization on fertility rates in the United States. METHODS: Fertility rates were compared over time between states that varied in the timing of abortion legalization. RESULTS: States legalizing abortion experienced a 4% decline in fertility relative to states where the legal status of abortion was unchanged. The relative reductions in births to teens, women more than 35 years of age, non-White women, and unmarried women were considerably larger. If women did not travel between states to obtain an abortion, the estimated impact of abortion legalization on birth rates would be about 11%. CONCLUSIONS: A complete recriminalization of abortion nationwide could result in 440,000 additional births per year. A reversal of the Roe v Wade decision leaving abortion legal in some states would substantially limit this impact because of the extent of travel between states.
Is it not possible that the birth rates appeared to decline because abortions were reported once they were legalized, whereas the illegal abortions that were occurring before Roe v. Wade went unreported? This is alluded to in a paper written as a response to this one, in the same journal: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1508992/pdf/amjph00011-0149a.pdf
ReplyDeleteThanks, Curly for contributing...
ReplyDeleteI looked over your referred article and I think
1. My original article, referenced above, makes a simple equation which they back up with factual statistics i.e. Legalizing Abortion = fewer babies.
2. your article recognizes that legalizing abortion in any country will cause an immediate birth rate drop. It does not attempt to explain it away as you do.
3. Your article simply doubts that it is possible to reverse that drop by recriminalizing