I came across two interesting statistics while reading this week that I though I’d share with you all.
What Is Their Desired Number Of Abortion Providers?
First, from the Washington Post: “The number of abortion providers dropped from 2,908 in 1982 to 1,787 in 2005. Eighty-seven percent of counties in the United States and 31 percent of metropolitan areas have no abortion services.”
There are 3,141 counties in the US. If only 13% of 3,141 counties have abortion facilities, then 408 counties have abortion facilities. This means each county (with clinics) has an average of 4 abortion providers.
So do they wish there was one provider in each county? That would double the number of abortionists-but force many of them to move to places without coverage (which is an unlikely scenario).
Do they want to keep the status quo plus add so that each county has at least one? Then we’d have to add 2,733 abortion providers-totaling 4,520 abortion providers in the US. That’s 1,500 more providers than there were during the “golden age” of 1982 when there were nearly 3,000 providers.
So the pro-aborts, who in the words of Bill Clinton are “pro-choice” and not “pro-abortion” because they want abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare,” want to double or triple the number of abortionists in America-they want more than 4,000 people who make it a regular part of their job to kill “unwanted” babies.
Sick, right?
Contraception To Fight Climate Change
This leads me to the next article, which is all about reducing the number of “unintended” or “unwanted” babies. This headline comes from the Telegraph in London: “Contraception cheapest way to combat climate change: Contraception is almost five times cheaper as a means of preventing climate change than conventional green technologies, according to research by the London School of Economics.”
The article (and the press release it’s taken directly from) claim that providing “non-coercive” contraception to women “would reduce unintended births by 72 per cent, reducing projected world population in 2050 by half a billion to 8.64 billion.” The press release raves, “This part of the solution is so easy, and so cheap, and would bring so many other social and economic benefits, from health and education to the empowerment of women.”
The original study is available online [PDF], where you can read that this is not unbiased research done by the London School of Economics. Page two reads “The Client: This project has been commissioned by the Optimum Population Trust, a UK environmental charity and think tank, raising awareness of the environmental impact of population growth. Purpose of the Project: The purpose of this project is to perform a cost-benefit analysis of reducing carbon emissions by non-coercively reducing population growth. The basic tenet of this project is that fewer people will emit fewer tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2).”
This research, then, conducted on behalf of people who believe there should be fewer people, in order to prove that there should be fewer people. Take it with a grain-or a whole shaker-of salt.
Environmentally Friendly “Family Planning”
This is part of a continuing discussion among Green-ies about which forms of contraceptives are most environmentally friendly. Nina Shen Rastogi wrote an article on Slate.com arguing that condoms are most environmentally friendly, since they produce the least amount of garbage.
And an article in the National Academy of Sciences [PDF] published in 2007 studied the negative impact of the hormones from birth control on fish populations-basically, it decimates them.
But Natural Family Planning is as natural as it gets-why don’t the Greenies embrace this? No chemicals or artificial barriers needed! Leslie, a summer volunteer at our office, actually told us that the liberals in the art department at the school she teaches at have embraced NFP because it’s so environmentally responsible-and better for women’s health.
And several parents of large families have argued that having a big family isn’t necessarily bad for the environment. As one pointed out, they buy things in bulk (saving on packaging) and a light bulb provides enough light for one person or seven.
The problem is about consumption and emissions-yet they keep making it an excuse to get rid of people, instead of a reason to improve our personal habits. Sigh.
Upcoming Activism Events
Speaking of good habits, though, here’s a habit Chicagoans may want to develop: Join in the regularly scheduled protests of abortion.
Consider joining the monthly protest of Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge this Saturday from 1-2 pm. Also remember that we have a Face The Truth Day coming up on Wednesday, September 16 in the West Suburbs. And Families Against Planned Parenthood will have their monthly Planned Parenthood protest on Saturday the 19th at 9am followed by a training session for sidewalk counselors and all who are interested in learning how to reach out to abortion-bound women. The cost is $15. Click here or call our Aurora office at 630-896-1200 to RSVP.
