A pro-life Bush voter posted a reply to one of my posts here, that was very interesting
It makes me almost physically ill to vote for Republicans because I know their economic interests are not mine, nor are they in the "interests" of the common good. However, as long as the Democratic party insists on using the courts to forbid my state from granting basic human rights to unborn children...
That got me thinking... The guy surely knew what drives his vote, but had no idea of the counter- intuitive fact that just because Bush SAYS he is pro life it doesn't mean he is improving things, i.e. , reducing abortion.
Under Bush the US earned the dubious honor of being the world leader in teenage pregnancy among developed countries since 2002 (1)
Also, Abortion increased under Bush
more below the fold...
Update [2005-2-21 18:35:4 by lawnorder]: Fixed link (1)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=11804433
Abortion increased under Bush
Did you know teen pregnancy and abortion INCREASED in the last 4 years of Bushonomics ?
No one knows because - guess what - the Bush Administration ordered federal agencies to STOP tabulating those numbers. A few dedicated people still went after them and found astounding increases in the 16 states they were able to find reliable numbers being collected by non-federal agencies (2)
WHY NOT tabulate abortion statistics ?
You would think that Republicans would be the first to want those statistics, given their sound bytes against abortion and the huge importance their voters attribute to it.
US the leader leader in... teenage pregnancy
A study found that the US is world leader in teenage pregnancy among developed countries since 2002
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Abstract&list_
uids=11804433 ( Government site, not a libbie site)
Why did abortions increase under Bush?
Why is that ? Surely this is an undesirable outcome to the Bush administration, who tells us at every chance that they are pro-life.. One wonders how did they manage to produce the exact opposite of their desired outcome, having funds and Congress at their disposal like they had the last 4 years.
The article in (2) mentions some obvious ties to the sluggish economy of the last 4 years, and to those I add
1) Faith based approach to medicine
A congressional investigation has found that many abstinence-only programs rely on false information to encourage kids to delay sex until after marriage. Worse, the programs aren't that effective. According to data from the CDC, 61% of graduating high school seniors have had sex. Columbia University researchers found that teenagers who sign virginity pledges may delay sexual activity. They found 88 percent of them eventually have premarital sex.
(3)
2) Funding the faith in detriment of proven methods
Funds for research backed pregnancy prevention such as condomns and sex ed were cut and/or diverted to abstinence only programs
President Bush proposed to spend $270 million on [abstinence only] programs next year. Congress cut that amount to less than $200 million, which is still more than double the $80 million allocated to such programs in 2001.
(3)
3) How Bushonomics increased Abortion
As we learn in (2) - Why abortion rate is up in Bush years, The main cause for abortion is simple: poverty.
Two-thirds of women who have abortions cite "inability to afford a child" as their primary reason (Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life). In the Bush presidency, unemployment rates increased half again. Not since Herbert Hoover had there been a net loss of jobs during a presidency until the current administration. Average real incomes decreased, and for seven years the minimum wage has not been raised to match inflation. With less income, many prospective mothers fear another mouth to feed.
Half of all women who abort say they do not have a reliable mate And men who are jobless usually do not marry. In the 16 states, there were 16,392 fewer marriages than the year before, and 7,869 more abortions. As male unemployment increases, marriages fall and abortion rises.
Women worry about health care for themselves and their children Since 5.2 million more people have no health insurance now than before this presidency -- with women of childbearing age overrepresented in those 5.2 million -- abortion increases.