Tuesday, May 9, 2006
The Times on abortion rates
Eduardo linked the other day to the recent story in the New York Times magazine about contraception, and noted that, according to the story:
And, around the world, countries in which abortion is legal and contraception is widely available tend to rank among the lowest in rate of abortion, while those that outlaw abortion — notably in Central and South America and Africa — have rates that are among the highest.
My understanding is that, with the exception of Vietnam and Cuba, all of the countries with the highest abortion rates are Eastern European countries where abortion is legal. (Abortion is legal in Vietnam and Cuba too, they just aren't Eastern European countries). Western European countries tend to have lower abortion rates than the U.S., but then again, Western European countries tend to place far greater restrictions on abortion than what are allowable in the U.S. under Roe v. Wade.
Here is a link to the stats, provided by the (pro-abortion-rights) Guttmacher Institute.
UPDATE: Elizabeth Brown (St. Thomas) provides this link to a 2003 report from Guttmacher, "Contraception Use is Key to Reducing Abortion Worldwide."
https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2006/05/the_times_on_ab.html