Abortion industry is losing its base

Maggie DeWitte | DesMoines

Good news: Human abortion rates are declining.

The Register editorial on Oct. 21 (Contraceptives, not extremists, reduce abortion rates) gives all the credit for this seeming decline to contraception use, and none to pro-life organizations like Iowans for LIFE who have been in the trenches educating Iowa kids on the dignity of life for four decades.

Is the Register correct?

Not according to the people who work in the field of human abortion.

In his book, “Abortion Politics,” Planned Parenthood’s Frederick S. Jaffe admits: “…even if everyone were to practice contraception, and use the most effective medically prescribed methods, there would still be a very large number of unwanted pregnancies.”

British abortionist, Judith Bury, builds on the premise: “…women…have come to request [abortions] when contraception fails. There is overwhelming evidence that, contrary to what you might expect, the provision [availability] of contraception leads to an increase in the abortion rate.”

None of this is surprising. The two most common forms of contraception dispensed by Planned Parenthood, the pill and male condoms, are unreliable with typical use, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Nine percent of pill users become pregnant in a year, and 18 percent of condom users.

In light of this, the Register’s assertion that 100 percent of the decline in human abortion is due to contraception use and 0 percent to the educational efforts of “anti-abortion extremists” is illogical.

By attempting to assign credit for the decline in abortion, the Register seems to acknowledge that this decline is a good thing. Good. We have some common ground.

Abortion is a plague on our society. It is not necessary under any circumstances. It is not health care. It hurts women. Abortion is never needed to save the life of the mother. There may be medical complications that cause the indirect death of an unborn child, but that is not abortion. The procedures needed to fix the complications are first and foremost to save the life of the mother.

Careful readers noted my earlier use of the word “seeming.” Here’s why: Many contraception methods are abortifacient in nature, including the Intrauterine device (IUD) referenced in the editorial.

Birth control works one of three ways: 1. To prevent ovulation 2. To prevent fertilization 3. To irritate the lining of the uterus to prevent implantation. The first two methods are "true contraception" in that they prevent conception.

The third method is abortion.

So, why are pregnant women aborting less? According to a Gallup Poll this year, a majority support more regulations on the abortion industry. And 55 percent of surveyed Americans oppose 98 percent of the million-some abortions that take place every year in the U.S. (with some allowing exceptions for rape and incest).

Groups like Iowans for LIFE connect with kids. Busloads of students attend the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., with us every year.

The Register doesn’t give this event a lot of coverage, but they should. Typically, half a million people march in bitter cold on behalf of life. Some two-thirds are students. These are the pro-life generation born post Roe v. Wade who know that their life was a “choice.”

The leader of the National Abortion Rights Action League, Nancy Keenan, recently stepped down as head of NARAL. She acknowledged that they are losing the under-30 voters. She said they need a “change of tactics.”

Tactics aren’t enough. The human abortion industry is losing their base.

Maggie DeWitte is executive director of Iowans for LIFE. Contact: mdewitte@iowansforlife.org



