Abortions Are Down…Aren’t They?

Stop, just stop…abortions are not down. And when anti-abortion/pro-life groups tout things like these (https://patch.com/us/across-america/u-s-abortion-rate-down-sharply-restrictive-laws-not-reason) numbers from the Guttmacher Institute (the research organization for Planned Parenthood btw), we just feed their fundraising narrative. It happened here in Iowa a few years ago when senate file 2 (SF@) passed and took about $3M from the local murder-for-hire affiliate by not accepting federal “family planning” dollars. Immediately Planned Parenthood of the Heartland (PPH) started saying that this legislation lead to the closing of four of their branches in more rural (see that as “less-profitable”) areas of the state. Absolute lies! We knew they were closing them down before SF2 was ever proposed. And then groups all over the country touted the talking points…pro-life groups! Which PPH parlayed into a very successful fundraising drive.

So, what do I mean by saying that the abortion is not really dropping? Well, I’m glad you asked…you can read the above story citing the report from Guttmacher. I will admit this, surgical abortions just might be down. Those are the ones that are actually required (by most states) to be reported. Funny though that Guttmacher didn’t take the info found here (https://www.guttmacher.org/evidence-you-can-use/medication-abortion) regarding chemical abortions…this means the abortion pill, given by “medical professionals” via Skype or through their new app with mail-order abortion pills. I’m not going to go super deep into this report except to highlight a couple of things…first, they talk about 50% of abortions being “medication abortions” at smaller clinics. Not to mention the expansion of telemed abortions leading to a 1000% increase in “telehealth” Medicare claims between 2007 and 2016; thanks again Iowa and the Buffet family (yes, THAT Buffet family!). 

SO…can we please stop feeding the lies of the pro-abortion industry?! We lose our credibility and put “our side” in to a false sense of “winning.” There are a few reasons to do that…1.  We need “victories” to keep the grassroots motivated. I don’t necessarily disagree with the premise or reasoning behind this motive. BUT, we have to be careful. There is too much information out there that is not that difficult to find. This leads to lost credibility. 2. We are fundraising off of this information and know better. Do I really need to expand on why this is bad? We should never become part of the “Pro-Life Industry”! And 3. We just don’t know any better and want to have a hot take, so we rush out commentary on news that comes out. This can be fixed…step 1, verify the information before commenting. Step 2, if you are wrong, fess up and correct the commentary as loudly as you did your hot take.

Let’s briefly address the other claim that is made in the story about declining birth rates…again, they are correct. 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/195943/birth-rate-in-the-united-states-since-1990/

Sadly, we are not doing a good job of promoting the necessity of getting married and having children. This a conversation that will lead to another MUCH longer post, but suffice to say, MEN, WE MUST DO BETTER! Let’s show our sons what real masculinity means…let’s model the manliest man in history, our Lord and Savior! By putting Christ first and striving to be more like Him, we show our daughters what they should seek in a husband. Even if we have made mistakes (I’m talking to myself here), we can start today. There are reams of compelling evidence that suggests that most of the brokenness in our society would be rectified by fathers being present and leading.