Higher Share of Unintended Pregnancies are Aborted in Blue States than Red, Data Suggests
With Red = Republican (conservative) and Blue = Democrat (liberal)
(Link): Higher share of unintended pregnancies are aborted in blue states than red, data suggests
By Ryan Foley
A scholar at the Catholic University of America reports that data released in a recent report from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute has found that the share of unintended pregnancies carried to term is much higher in red states than blue states.
Dr. Michael New, a Catholic University research associate in Washington, D.C., and an associate scholar at the pro-life research nonprofit Charlotte Lozier Institute, published an op-ed in National Review Wednesday titled “New Guttmacher Report Downplays Pro-Life Progress.”
New analyzed data collected by the Guttmacher Institute in a report released earlier this month that details the estimated number of unintended pregnancies in each U.S. state and the share of unintended pregnancies that ended in birth, abortion and fetal loss in 2017.
“In the 15 states that voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in the past six elections, approximately 45 percent of unintended pregnancies resulted in an abortion,” New wrote. “In the 20 states that voted for the Republican presidential nominee in the past six elections, meanwhile, only about 23 percent of women with unintended pregnancies had an abortion.”
In an interview with The Christian Post, New told CP that based on the data provided in the report, he “was able … to do an average comparing the Democratic states to the Republican states.”
“The ideology of the states doesn’t seem to have a strong impact on the unintended pregnancy rate,” he said. “The reason why we see lower abortion rates in conservative states is that when unintended pregnancies do happen, women are a lot more likely to carry those pregnancies to term.”
New attributed the lower share of pregnancies ending in abortion in red states to “certain kinds of pro-life laws” in effect, including “informed consent laws and parental involvement laws.”
Additionally, he noted that “there are no situations really where a state Medicaid program pays for … abortions” in red states. By contrast, he said that the Medicaid program does cover abortion in a lot of Democratic and liberal states.
…”I don’t think it’s just legislation,” he added. “Right-of-center states do have more pregnancy help centers. They’re also more likely to make pregnancy help centers available for different kinds of government grants. I think that makes a difference, and I just think also public sentiment plays a role as well.”
Related:
(Link): Study: Conservative Protestants’ divorce rates spread to their red state neighbors
(Link): 2015 Poll: 70% of American Women Who Have Abortions Identify As Christian
(Link): Woman Has Abortion Because She Couldn’t Fit Into Her Wedding Dress
(Link): Abortion Widens the Gender Gap and Exploits Women
(Link): Married, Republican Pro-Life Politician Allegedly Asked His Pregnant Mistress to Get an Abortion
(Link): Doctor Performed Abortion On Wrong Woman Because Of Hospital Mixup
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