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abortion Eric Metaxas Evangelicals Politics Trump

A nuanced view of abortion

Here is a tweet thread I did about a nuanced approach to abortion policy. 

First thread: 

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1215759486939303937

Last thread: 

https://twitter.com/AndyRowell/status/1215760470457499648

Here is a PDF of the thread: 

Download Abortion Jan 10 2020

Categories
abortion

Making abortion rare. Reducing the number of abortions.

A thread by Andy Rowell

As study after global study has shown, "pro-life" limiting access to abortion is not a significant factor in reducing the number of abortions.

The main factor that reduces the number of abortions is making contraceptives easily accessible, which often "pro-life" people oppose.

kate shellnutt@kateshellnutt
 

The abortion rate dropped in Ohio by 27% and in Texas by 30%, and by similar amounts in states that protected abortion access, including California, Hawaii and New Hampshire https://apnews.com/7e45fe6f70cf45f1823a45ef9ad2187c 

Number of abortions in US falls to lowest since 1973

NEW YORK (AP) — The number and rate of abortions across the United States have plunged to their lowest levels since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973, according to new figures released…

apnews.com

See kate shellnutt's other Tweets
 
 

Andy Rowell@AndyRowell

Rev. A.J. Dudek "If Donald Trump will help save a couple million babies, that's a good thing. My vote has to align with my view of God's word — I should care for the baby in the womb." Likely, millions more abortions occurred in the United States because Trump was elected.

Andy Rowell@AndyRowell
 

"increasing access to highly effective methods of contraception (and thus preventing unintended pregnancies) is a more effective way to reduce abortion rates" [than restricting access to contraception]. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/07/29/reducing-access-to-contraception-wont-reduce-the-abortion-rate/ 

Dietician Krista Mangan prepares an examination room at the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) office inside a Salt Lake County health clinic in South Salt Lake City, Utah, October 2, 2013. The Salt Lake County government appropriated special funding to continue to offer certain aspects of federally funded WIC program for a week while many other WIC offices in Utah have been shut due the federal government shutdown,...

Reducing access to contraception won’t reduce the abortion rate

Increasing access to highly effective methods of contraception (and thus preventing unintended pregnancies) is a more effective way to reduce abortion rates.

brookings.edu

See Andy Rowell's other Tweets
 
 

"1.4 percent of all abortions came after 21 weeks …
None of these Democrats [candidates for president] is explicitly saying, 'I support allowing third-trimester [28-40 weeks] abortions' — and, in fact, they seem to be trying hard to avoid doing so." (washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/…)

Reference:
Blake, Aaron. "Democrats’ leftward shift on third-trimester abortion." The Washington Post (Online), Sep 11 2019. This is also correct.

Daniel Grossman:
“Not all restrictions on abortion are the same — some create a minor obstacle that most patients overcome, while others result in the closure of large-volume providers, making it impossible for some to access care.”

Reference:
Belluck, Pam. "America’s Abortion Rate Has Dropped to Its Lowest Ever." New York Times (Online), Sep 18 2019. "43 states prohibit some abortions after a certain point in pregnancy.
– 22 states ban abortion between 13 and 24 weeks LMP (Last menstrual period).  
– 20 states impose a ban at 24-28 weeks .
– 1 state imposes a ban … 25 weeks LMP onward" (guttmacher.org/state-policy/e…)

There is a some consensus about late term abortion:
– 43 of 50 states ban abortion between 13-25 weeks.
– Only 1.3% of abortions occur after 21 weeks.
– Third trimester abortion would be (28-40 weeks).
– Democratic presidential candidates are talking in generalities. See also:

for an argument that pro-life persuasion regarding the immorality of abortion and pro-life restrictions have reduced US abortion rate. But I am thinking about rates of abortion in different countries and the main factor is contraceptive access.

Michael New@Michael_J_New
 

I am on the @LozierInstitiute blog with some thoughts on new Guttmacher data showing a 53 percent decline in the U.S. abortion rate between 1980 and 2017. https://lozierinstitute.org/guttmacher-report-shows-pro-life-progress-continues-as-u-s-abortion-rates-decline/ 

See Michael New's other Tweets