How the Stats Really Stack Up
Abortion on demand is a provocative and erroneous phrase intentionally used to give the impression that abortion is a callous and random choice. The facts, of course, prove otherwise. I challenge anyone to show me one woman who opts for abortion as her primary means of birth control. Likewise, I dare anyone to point out scores of women lined up around the block from a clinic, insisting they receive an abortion immediately. Such inference by legislators is insulting to women and quite ludicrous.
In Tennessee, there were 14 abortions per 1,000 (1.4 per 100) pregnancies in the year 2000. This hardly qualifies as abortion en masse. It is important to realize that in more than half of all abortions happen within the first two weeks of a woman discovering that she is pregnant. Ninety (90) percent occur within the first trimester, nine (9) percent in the second, and one (1) percent in the last three months. In nearly all cases, abortion after the first trimester happens because the woman’s life is in danger or the fetus is severely deformed.
Much has also been made of whether or not to have parental notification and/or consent before a minor can have an abortion. While this is a valid point of debate, it is also important to note that most abortions are performed on consenting adults. Of abortions performed in Tennessee, 81.9% are to women over 20 years of age. The percentage of adult women making this choice is actually much higher because 18- and 19-year olds are not statistically grouped with adult women. All females age 19 and under are classified as teenagers, which is problematic since 18- and 19-year-old women are legally adults and should be counted that way for the purposes of health statistics. Regardless, few minors have abortions.
Over half of all unwanted pregnancies occur even when birth control is used. Latest data indicate that the number of unplanned pregnancies may drop as availability to emergency contraceptives increase. Studies also reveal that teens who receive human sexuality education, including information about birth control, have lower incidents of unwanted pregnancy.
There seems to be widespread support for abortion in cases of rape and incest. Comprehensive and accurate statistics on rape and incest are hard to come by, however. It is estimated that only one in three rapes is reported. Data on incest is even more elusive. It is estimated that one out of three girls and one out of five boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18. Yet less than one million cases of child abuse are reported annually, of which about ten percent involve sexual abuse. While it may not be acceptable, it is understandable that complete and accurate data on instances of pregnancy due to rape or incest and whether or not such pregnancy is terminated is nearly impossible to come by.
The truth is that women in Tennessee and elsewhere are neither callous nor irresponsible. They are not rushing to family clinics and demanding to have abortions. They are not choosing abortion as their primary means for birth control. Many were, in fact, using birth control to avoid pregnancy. Of the small percentage of abortions that occur in this state, most are the choice of adult women.
Tennessee Liberal