Washington D.C., Jan 20, 2017 / 12:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A reported drop in the United States abortion rate by the Guttmacher Institute is good news to pro-life leaders, who nevertheless acknowledge that optimism should be tempered.
“The news that there may be fewer abortions taking place in the United States is a great start to the New Year, though we have to take the abortion industry’s claims with a grain of salt,” the acting president of Americans United for Life, Clarke Forsythe, stated.
The accuracy of the numbers could have been affected by the lack of a “national reporting requirement” for clinics, he said.
Charles Camosy, a theology professor at Fordham University, echoed that claim, saying the numbers were “good news” but cautioning that “a confluence of factors” was behind them.
Abortion rates in the U.S. fell to their lowest recorded level since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, the Guttmacher Institute, which provides research and analysis to “advance sexual and reproductive health and rights,” said in a report released Jan. 17.
The rate of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in the U.S. fell by 14 percent from 2011 to 2014, Guttmacher reported, with the current rate at 14.6 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44. There were 926,200 recorded abortions in 2014 overall, they said.
And the number of pregnancies ending in abortion, excluding miscarriages, also fell by 11 percent since 2011, the report noted.
This continued a marked decline in the abortion rate, which had already dropped by 13 percent between 2008 and 2011. The overall abortion rate has seen a steady decline since 1980-81 when it was at its peak of 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women, NPR reported.
Pro-life leaders have welcomed the overall finding of a smaller abortion rate, although they raised some questions about the accuracy of the report.
“That’s the core question,” Chuck Donovan of the Charlotte Lozier Institute told CNA of the accuracy of the numbers. For instance, he noted that California has no reporting of abortion numbers from its state health agency. The report itself states that “we obtained responses from only 58% of facilities that we believed provided abortions in 2014.”
This points to a “crying need” for better reporting of abortion numbers on a state and national level, Donovan said.
Nevertheless, among all the sources that are reporting abortions, they show a sharp decline in the abortion rate, he emphasized, from state reports to Guttmacher’s report to reports by the Centers for Disease Control.
The biggest cause driving the decline, Guttmacher suggested, could have been the use of contraceptives.
Dr. Rachel Jones, principal research scientist at the Guttmacher Institute, told CNA, “we think the most important contributing factor is improvements in contraceptive use … That couples are using contraception more effectively, and in particular, there are indicators that more women are using long-acting methods such as IUD.”
There was increased utilization of certain contraceptive devices such as intra-uterine devices (IUDs) and long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs). The “reliance” on those two devices had increased by 130 percent between 2007 and 2009 and “continued, albeit at a slightly slower pace, through 2012,” the Guttmacher Institute said.
Jones added that “fewer women were getting pregnant in 2014 than in 2011…we think this is because the best available evidence suggests that more women are using highly-effective methods and therefore there [are] fewer unintended pregnancies. So that means more of the pregnancies that do occur are intended. And so, by default, these women chose to get pregnant and they choose to have a baby.”
Other, smaller causes for the decline in the abortion rate could have been state laws restricting abortions or regulating abortion clinics, Guttmacher said.
“Improved contraceptive use in recent years has led to a decline in the U.S. unintended pregnancy rate, suggesting that women are increasingly able to plan their pregnancies and therefore have a decreased need for abortions,” they stated.
“However, the wave of abortion restrictions passed at the state level over the last five years could also have contributed to the decline by making it more difficult for women to access needed services in highly restrictive states.”
19 states have passed “pain-capable” bills, or 20-week abortion bans, since 2010. Regulations of abortion clinics have also been passed by several states in the wake of the Kermit Gosnell incident, in which the Philadelphia abortionist was convicted in 2013 on three counts of first-degree murder of babies and prosecutors described his clinic as a “house of horrors” full of serious health violations.
There are a “whole host of factors” that could be behind the abortion rate decline, Donovan said. “We think there’s an awful lot going on.”
He pointed to surveys showing young people trending more pro-life, due to an increase in the use and quality of ultrasounds that show a baby in the womb. The violence of abortion would also be a turn-off to many young people, he said. A higher percentage of unintended pregnancies are being carried to term, he added.
Teenage sexual activity has overall decreased, Donovan said, pointing to numbers from the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention showing the percentage of high school students who had ever had sex declined from 54 percent in 1991 to 47 percent in 2013.
There have also been “changing understandings of abortion,” Camosy said. The unborn child was formerly referred to as a “clump of cells,” but the rise of technology such as 3D ultrasounds have enabled people to see a living, moving child in the womb.
Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards attributed the decline to contraceptives, NPR reported. “It shows that we’re finally doing a better job of helping women get access to birth control that’s affordable and that’s high-quality,” Richards said.
In the Guttmacher report, there was a 14 percent increase in “early medication abortions” that were “in non-hospital facilities,” like the use of the RU-486 pill in the first eight weeks after gestation. Donovan admitted this is a “worrisome number.”
It is also a “clarion call” for better tracking of the number of abortion injuries, he insisted, as the RU-486 pill can be taken by a mother at home and the complications or injuries arising from it are “outside of the clinic.”
And only just over half of states require reporting of abortion complications, he said.
Overall, the numbers reflect progress, Donovan said, pointing to factors like more resources for pregnant women as driving more women to carry their children to term.
[…]
“Biden is in trouble with Catholic voters”.
The movie ‘The Way’ one of whose stars is Martin Sheen is being rereleased.
Martin Sheen played a very pro-choice ‘catholic’ president with a degree from Notre Dame in the series ‘The West Wing’.
In a scene toward the end of the series he smoked a cigarette which he snubbed out on the floor of a church during a soliloquy in the course of which he called almighty God a ‘sonofab…h’.
Now he is shilling for fellow ‘catholic’ Joe Biden.
Something doesn’t add up, or – maybe it does.
FYI – I have the original DVD and enjoy it.
Terence, I need to secure a copy of the original “The Way” myself. Last year I viewed the re-release and every change that they made diminished the movie from adding outtakes to changing at least 2 musical score. I love that movie and know it inside and out and the unfortunate changes were glaring.
Not to all: if given the choice between the two, go for the original release! It is a wonderful movie.
He is only a problem for The Faithful, although an unfaithful Catholic who desires to render onto Caesar or His/Her self what belongs to God is an oxymoron.
Interesting
So it would look like so-called catholics dont like either candidate. Well, they had better start to wake up and be truthful with themselves about the immense damage Biden and the democrats have done to the country. Millions for wars when we cant pave our roads, inflation, soaring violent crime in every city, open border issues and tax burden levied on our own poor to support illegals who have no business being here, on and on. Name one thing they have gotten right. Biden wants to give a free pass to the select group of students who took out loans, and in places like California, free college to illegals too. If you are hard pressed to buy gas, or groceries, or are afraid to go into your own city, you have reaped the rewards of voting for Biden and his ilk. Enjoy. My question to Democrat voters is , are you really that ill informed? Or is it that you just cant admit you were wrong to vote for the democrats?
So, it seems that so-called World Trade Center workers didn’t like either being burned alive or jumping from a building. Well, they had better have started to wake up and be truthful with themselves about the immense damage fire would do to their bodies and throw themselves out the windows.
Translation: You have two obvious choices. One of them is very bad. THAT DOES NOT PROVE THE OTHER OBVIOUS CHOICE IS NOT ALSO VERY BAD. What is needed is a GOOD option, not a lesser evil.
Outis;
You are correct in stating that what is needed is a GOOD option. Unfortunately one is not available this time, so – again – this is a hold your nose and cast your vote election.
Do you actually believe that voting for Donald Trump is equivalent to jumping out of the World Trade Center or perishing inside?
You know , there are readers of CWR who either have lost loved ones on 911 or are acquainted with people who have.
I know you don’t intend to cause distress and free speech is important but sometimes hyperbole isn’t the better choice.
There currently are only 2 candidates who have a chance of becoming president. I understand that in a perfect world we’d have a candidate that people of faith could endorse 100%. But these are the 2 choices we have and I know that things will only continue to unravel under 4 more years of a Biden administration. Or whichever Democrat takes his place. I want at least a little bit of our culture left for my grandchildren to inherit. Damage control is better than destruction.
US Constitution notwithstanding, non-religious things are being made to supercede religious; then the FBI and others are (supposedly) unable to resolve the divergence -or, they profess they are able to; later the Supreme Court tries to find ways to incorporate the dichotomies. As if there was any real and true answer to problems and their right resolution, through those approaches.
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/04/19/biden-administration-redefines-sex-discrimination-in-title-ix-to-include-gender-identity-2/
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2024/04/19/fbi-investigating-threats-against-multiple-faith-communities-in-pennsylvania/
Let’s face it, the general moral decay is causing the unraveling of the democratic form of government and we are heading toward totalitarian governments around the globe. Democracy demands a common morality, which we no longer have. Democracy was the product of the majority holding and practicing Judio Christian values. We no longer are the majority so we can’t expect our views to be upheld. Sadly, to say we are now becoming a persecuted minority. But on the bright side, we know that persecution brings purging and purity to the church : the more the persecution, the stronger we become, and we can expect triumph of Jesus in the end.
We’re still a Republic but it;s not going too well since we’re headed toward socialism. Lincoln remarked in his G address:”Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”.. basically an experiment. If the CCP comes though I’m not doing what they tell me.
Outis, I agree. To vote for the lesser of two evils, is to vote for evil. At this point it may may be better not to endorse or vote for either candidate since both pose serious danger to our country and society. Is there enough evidence to convict either candidate of being a Christian? This is not to say that a goojd candidate needs to be a Christian, but I think we can insist on one who promotes and practices the Judio Christian morality which has been the backbone of our democratic society.
Yes, Outis, there is no perfect option.
But see my comment below for a description of the worst of the two voting choices.
And I didn’t even mention the most horrendous Democratic policy ever — abortion, the absolutely worst, most horrific holocaust ever visited upon humanity.
More than a *billion* — yes, that’s Billion with a ‘B’ — children slaughtered around the world over the past 51 years.
And half of Catholics voted for it.
Now, go ahead. Tell me how boorish and loud Trump can be.
Your TDS is getting a little annoying and redundant at this point. There is no “better” option – we have the candidates we have. We have a responsibility to cast a vote that is the better or the two options. If you honestly think that Biden is the better option, you have had your head in the sand for the past several years.
Athanasius, Trump Derangement Syndrome made sense when it was possible to differentiate the issues he would be leading and CHANGING. Now, however, one thing melds into another and Trump demonstrates that he is free to do as he chooses yet always now to be bound to the shuttle.
Did you know TDS also stands for three times a day (in Latin) as well as Time Driven Switching and Total Dissolved Solids – among other unmentionables that look as bad on Trump as on Biden. Or as nice.
Outis: Let me get this straight. You believe that the man, through his concrete actions, his judicial appointments, at all levels, his restructuring of foreign aid and his executive orders that affected the saving of more human lives than the actions of any individual in the entirety of human history is irredeemably evil in your divine assistant judgment? Or is it that you reject the Christian notion that whatever a reprobate past a man might have had, can always be redeemed?
I agree with this! We need to vote for the lesser of two evils and not throw our vote away on a 3rd Party candidate who has no chance of winning.
Of course, abortion is the key issue, along with Pres. Biden’s misguided and unscientific support of IVF, and of gender-transition treatment being made available to children (which many scientists and medical professionals have spoken against). T
But the issue of forgiving student loans–this is awful! Where is the money coming from, and what happens to the financial health of the nation when these loans are simply sent “out to the cornfield?” (See famous Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life.”)?
And what precedent does this set for the “forgiveness” of other financial obligations?
What’s needed is better education of young people about their many options after graduating from high school! An expensive four-year-college is not necessarily the best way for everyone to go! Young people, especially minority young people, as well as teens whose parents did not attend college, don’t get the full information package that they need to make a wise decision about what to do after graduating from high school. E.g., many of the medical professions only require a two-year degree from a junior college–and then the option becomes available to earn the B.S. from a four-year college to move up the professional “ladder”–and sometimes, the hospital will pay for that continuing education! How many young people know about this?! Or know about the skilled trades, which require a trade school or apprenticeship (some of these apprenticeships are paid!) and earn high salaries?
Better career counselling–not LOAN FORGIVENESS, students is needed across the country!
Vote wisely, friends.
The Democratic Party is a death cult.
To Democrats, sterilizing children is even better than aborting them. Because a woman who has an abortion might someday give birth again.
But a child who is sterilized can never procreate.
Legalizing drugs; gay “marriage”; the sexualization of children; the green new poverty; the open border fentanyl conduit; the denial of the biologically determined sexes; the racist, divisive CRT curriculum — everything the Democratic Party advocates is aimed at restricting life and promoting death.
Death is the Democratic Party’s central tenet.
Catholics who vote Democratic, look to your souls.
Perhaps those who vote Republican will be held to the same standard for the accountability of their souls! Just perhaps. 😇
Perhaps you will tell us EXACTLY what it is that Trump did that was so horrific??
Moving the US embassy after decades of promises to Jerusalem? The Abraham Accords? Energy independence? A booming economy? Leadership shown during covid? Yes indeed, horrific. I have asked that question of many people but NEVER get a coherent answer.Likely because there isnt one, just ginned up media emotion based on lies, and a desire to act on pure spite, as have many of our democrat DA’s. The Russia collusion story was proven a hoax by the special counsel, who worked literal YEARS investigating.
As for J6, sorry but we have actually had RIOTS which did much more damage yet nobody was prosecuted. Many. Throwing ill old women in jail because they walked into the Capitol isn’t my idea of justice. In fact its more like McCarthyism. And nobody throws an “insurrection” without military support and arms. There were none there that day. The “insurrection” story is pure propaganda pablum fed to the ill-informed and credulous. So, what else have you got? The country was clearly MUCH better off under Trump. What we have now is crime, chaos, sexual perversion and the general destruction of our culture and civilization. You’d rather keep the country on that track than vote for Trump? I call that an ill-advised and pathetic exercise in self indulgence.
You can have as many wishes as you want about who you’d RATHER have running for office. But the reality is, this is who we HAVE. Throwing a toddler tantrum and staying home instead of voting guarantees that the party which makes lies and cheating a part of their platform, along with supporting a hundred other degenerate issues, will win. Men in little girls locker rooms,abnormal sex taught to grammar school kids, library drag queen performances for kids paid with taxpayer money, our military sitting ducks in the Middle East? Thank the democrats for that. If you support that stuff, vote Biden or Kennedy, or stay home. The moral weight of such a “win” will be entirely on you.You may get some personal satisfaction out of such an outcome but the country as we have known it will be destroyed.
Obviously, which is why we keep reminding ourselves of this all the time, unlike our lib counterparts who presume to appropriate the power of God rather than consider His wrath.
What will end it all for Biden is for a reporter to ask him one simple question: “Could tell us what today’s date is?” He won’t be able to answer correctly.
Either that or “What is the 4th Luminous Mystery?”
Outis has the best comment. You have to come up to it not keep trying to out-match it or trying to find something that can substitute.
The fact that a void persists for the time being even when it can be and has been spotted, is part of the formation of the action.
The first Civil War was relatively simple before the stakes got raised and things got complicated. Lincoln’s original issue was simply whether slavery should be extended into the Western territories, or not?
As for our high-stakes complications of today, one fantasy is to suppose that both presidential candidates get derailed prior to the conventions, and both parties have to scramble. Who would look good running against Harris? Probably anybody?
Another fantasy is for the defense to play the first of the three Trump trials something like this…buying silence from a prostitute (possibly to shield an election, or possibly for personal reasons, or both?); how is this tangled episode any different from Congress itself—on a huge scale and systematically—buying voter-support from client groups—with earmarks and trillion-dollar annual deficits in monopoly money instead of cathouse tokens…and now with a national debt of $34 Trillion or twice what it was only ten years ago?
I think that was actually our second civil war Mr.Peter. I hope we don’t suffer a third.
Good point about the first civil war, which could have been averted if Franklin’s Albany Plan of 1754 had been approved. Proposed was greater unity among the thirteen contiguous colonies, which might then have enabled a “commonwealth of nations.” No need, then for a War of Independence: a “civil war” rather than a total “revolution” of French vintage in 1789 and beyond.
But, as for a third civil war, what is the difference, if any, between thirteen separate but contiguous colonies and a polyhedral Church of contiguous facets but with no consistent and unifying center?
What does any of this really mean since the Catholic reliion is not viewed favorably by a majority of Catholics?
Clearly that was a typo where I misspelled religion in reference to the religion that most Catholics fail to view favorably.
Catholics should wash their hands of politics. Never did Christ tell his followers to go to Rome and write man-made laws. God gave us the Church and the Word of God to change the world. We have an allegiance to God and have no allegiance to a man-made government. Our leaders reside in our Church and not in Washington, DC. Our job on earth is to fill our Churches with Followers of Christ so everyone can hear the powerful Word of God —-that will solve many, many problems.
Render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Remember? Most Catholics dont live in a monastery and dont have the luxury of pretending we dont see what is happening in front of us. Politicians who change the laws to allow men in womens locker rooms, support euthanasia, or support the surgical mutilation of children should NEVER get the support of any catholic.In addition, since our tax dollars are used to fund such perversions, it is our responsibility to raise loud objections to that. Opting out of voting is not a real option. In fact it is totally irresponsible.Further, overly generous immigration regulations pushed by liberals means the country is barely christian anymore.( Have you seen those antisemitic demonstrations on the news lately??) Those who are not Christian have little to no interest in our religious and moral point of view. You must work with the tools at hand, even if they are not perfect.
Last year the number of abortions in the USA increased and the number of people attending church decreased—-we need more people in church to fix America. The man-made government in Washington DC is not part of God’s plan.
Very noble sounding, etc.
Cliche time – for every person who, in a fit of high moral dudgeon refuses to vote for Trump – that’s one vote Joe Biden doesn’t have to worry about.
I repeat – hold your nose and cast your vote, but VOTE.
Exactly, Terrence.
If I was a Democrat operative I might consider planting comments in orthodox Christian sites encouraging high minded people to stay home on election day so as not to taint their conscience. Better to watch our nation self destruct as long as we can remain latter day Puritans.
To paraphrase the late, great Johnny Cash,I’d rather be a little less heavenly minded and do some earthly good.
🙂
The homilies aren’t exactly fire and brimstone anymore. Congregants need to walk away from mass shook up a little over guilt and feeling the need to do better, in my opinion.
Im voting for Trump simply because Deep State Washington hates him. That’s the only reason I need.
Principles over personalities! I’m voting for Trump!
I live in Canada and I for the life of me cannot figure out why a person would not vote for trump. There was peace, low gas prices etc under him. Yes he had mean tweets compare that to PF, Trudeau. His wife very lady like unlike past presidents and the ex of Trudeau who is on the trail trying to sell a book about her life with the juvenile. Trump didn’t take a pay check yet past & present president plus current cdn pM have become rich ! Crazy.
I can now see why roads to hell are paved with bishops and clergy. Their silence on these pro killing of babies is deafening.