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October 15, 2009

Mixed Reports on Abortion

The media reports on a new abortion study while "The Gray Lady" shows a different side of the debate.

Ruth Moon

A new report by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice reproductive think tank, suggests that while abortion is safe and legal in most developed countries, it is risky and restricted in the developing world. The Associated Press and USA Today both emphasized the 70,000 annual deaths the study attributes to unsafe abortions.

Political science professor at the University of Alabama Michael New writes that media analysis is “faulty” because it neglects potential social factors and implies restrictive abortion laws are solely responsible.

“These (developing countries mentioned in the report) have low per capita income and a higher incidence of social pathologies that may increase the perceived need for abortion,” New writes on The Corner. “This nuance is not picked up in any of the media coverage of the AGI report.” New also points out AGI has released other studies linking stricter abortion laws with reduced abortion rates.

The AGI study comes on the heels of a New York Times feature on abortion opponents and protests. The Times also ran an article and slideshow on Monica Migliorino Miller, who photographs aborted fetuses, and an article on “selected reduction,” aborting some of the fetuses in a multiple-fetus pregnancy.

Pro-life writers seemed to express shock that The New York Times would run a package that is so sensitive to pro-life concerns. The National Right to Life Committee calls the package “amazing for pro-lifers” and “breathtaking” that the newspaper would run images of aborted fetuses on its website.

Is is good that abortion is getting all this attention in the media? Do you think the reporting is fair and balanced?

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Posted by Sarah Pulliam Bailey on October 15, 2009 11:45 AM

Comments

BBC emphasizes that there isn't much a of a difference between the abortion rate in areas with restrictions and those that don't have restrictions

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8305217.stm

But they also show that the study says that there is a relationship between availability of contraception and lower abortion rates (some areas use abortion as contraception, but most people would rather just have access to regular contraception.)

(early on in all of these stories but that wasn't even mentioned in this blog post.)

Posted By: Adam S | October 15, 2009 8:54 PM

I'm not knowledgeable enough about the media attention to give a good answer to that question, but I do think that it is interesting from a philosophical standpoint that the deaths from abortion are always blamed on the lack of availability, not on abortion itself. These deaths are tragic because they were attempted baby murders and the mother died as well. They are not tragic because the mother did not have the means to safely kill her baby.

Posted By: Anna | October 16, 2009 1:49 PM

To Adam S and others who seem to think that restrictive abortion laws don't have an affect on abortion rates, you are wrong. First of all, countries have different cultures that greatly influence things like the abortion rates, so comparing countries with restrictions to those without is apples to oranges. The relevant comparison is the same country before and after a significant change in abortion law. Here in the US, abortions took a huge jump after Roe v Wade.

Thinking about it a different way, if you understand simple economics, you will never fall for what the BBC and other pro-abortion studies want you to believe - that abortion laws don't influence abortion rates. Economically, if you increase the cost of something (in this case abortion, by making it illegal or putting restrictions on it, you are increasing the cost), then people will consume/do less of it. This is as true for abortion as it is for corn flakes.

Posted By: Dave | October 21, 2009 8:36 AM

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