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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (17084)	6/18/2001 7:53:19 PM
From: Solon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Legal abortion doesn't always mean fewer abortions I won't ask you to prove that because I don't really know what you mean by fewer abortions: fewer than what or where? I'm supposing that the only meaningful point you could have had in mind would have been the statistics of a single country where abortion has been both legal and illegal. Of course, I am reasonably sure that you are not really considering abortion numbers regardless of population, but are probably thinking of ratios. I do know of an instance where the ratio of abortions, in a country where they are legalized, is not lower than a country where they are, and that country is in the chart below. However, it is a reasonable asumption that some abortions done illegally do not make it on to statistical charts. Overall, abortion seems to be fairly similar in incidence whether legal or not, so the critical considerations for most people involved in the issue are matters of health and rights. Country Abortion rate per 1,000 women aged 15–44* The abortion rates are similar, rather legal or illegal. From the Alan Guttmacher Institute: Where abortion is legal United States 26 England/Wales 15 Netherlands 6 Finland 10 Japan 14 Australia 17 Where abortion is illegal Brazil 38 Colombia 34 Chile 45 Dominican Republic 44 Mexico 23 Peru 52 Data are for 1990; age-group is 15–49 in countries where abortion is illegal. Sources: Abortion rates are from S. Singh and S.K. Henshaw, "The Incidence of Abortion: A Worldwide Overview Focusing on Methodology and on Latin America," paper delivered at International Union for the Scientific Study of Population Seminar on Socio-Cultural and Political Aspects of Abortion from an Anthropological Perspective, Trivandrum, India, Mar. 25–28, 1996; maternal death rates are from P. Adamson, "A Failure of Imagination," The Progress of Nations: 1996, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), New York, 1996. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For example, can you cite statists for two countries which both have similar demographics and in each of which contraception is freely available and encourged subsidized by the government for those who can't afford it, with one country where abortion is legal and the other where it is ion is consistently and severely punished? That would be a legitimate comparison. Wel, first of all, Chris: that is far more work than I am willing to undertake without having the countries that you will accept as fitting those characteristics, prescreened and accepted as meeting the criteria you are proposing. If you can give me countries that meet the test for comparative demographics as understood and contemplated by your offer--I will be only too glad to do everything in my power to drag up the stats. Before, you do so, however, let me make a small point: The abortion statistics for countries where it is illegal are clearly signicantly different than stats where it is legal. It may be that there are no two countries, however, that meet your criteria for fair comparison. This would be your best hope. Because, if there are, then the comparison has been made--even if we do not know which ones meet your criteria* For instance, I have not seen stats showing any country where abortion was illegal, as showing lower death rates than countries where it was legal, and ditto for negative health consequences, damaged or destroyed reproductive systems, etc. This is a broad issue, so if you can pinpoint some very particular aspect of it which you find pertinent to discussion, that would be great. I agree, that abusing statistics is a waste of time and effort, as well as being harmful, or at the least, unhelpful.