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Psst... Pro-Lifers - the abortion rate is lower under Obama than at any time since '73

Hard-core conservative evangelicals seem to obsess over two things - gay marriage and especially abortion. Leading up to the 2008 and 2012 elections, many referred to candidate and President Obama as a baby-killer. However, while the president may be pro-choice, a new study shows that the 2011 abortion rate is lower than at any time since 1973.

The Guttmacher Institute just published a paper which showed that as of 2011, of every 1,000 impregnated women, only 17 had abortions. That is a decrease of 13% from 2008.

So why the dramatic drop? It's not the anti-abortion laws that were passed by Republicans, since many of those hadn't fully taken effect by 2011. One main factor was a greater reliance on birth control, which these same conservative evangelicals have also criticized. Several "Christian" organizations have even taken the healthcare law to court over requiring them to cover birth control in women's healthcare plans.

So, what's it going to be? If people are less educated about contraception due to abstinence-only education and don't have as much access to attain birth control, this will result in more unwanted pregnancies and with that, more abortions. If people receive an adequate sex education and are more readily supplied with different forms of contraception, the result will be fewer unwanted pregnancies and fewer abortions. Many of these far-right conservatives seem to want to live in a make-believe world, where no one has sex until marriage, and when they do, all sexual encounters are void of any kind of birth control and every pregnancy will go smoothly. In the real world, that's not the case. Many people do have sex before marriage, and even when they get married, many will use some form of birth control until they feel completely ready to have children. Also, last I heard, not every pregnancy went perfectly, unfortunately.

So, what's it going to be, far-right? Sex education, easier access to contraception, and fewer abortions, or abstinence-only education, less access to contraception, and more abortions? It's your call, but if you truly believe yourselves to be "pro-life," you'll support comprehensive sex education and easier access to contraception. If not, I'm afraid you might as well just call yourselves pro-abortion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/study-abortion-rate-at-lowest-point-since-1973/2014/02/02/8dea007c-8a9b-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

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