Contraception Increases Abortion
By Ruben Obregon
Role of contraception in reducing
abortion is a myth.
The debate concerning the
link between contraception and abortion
is decades old.
Pro-life advocates claim
contraception increases demand for
abortion, and abortion rights advocates
claim it decreases it.
Several papers have been written which
purport to prove that contraception
usage leads to a decrease in abortion.
An analysis titled
Increase in Effective Contraceptive use
can Reduce Abortion Rate (ADOBE
ACROBAT REQUIRED, or
view HTML version), published
in the September 2000 issue of the
Population Council's journal, Studies in
Family Planning. In this
analysis,authors and demographers
Bongaarts and Westoff provides a flawed mathematical
model "proving" how contraception
reduces abortion.
Conspicuously missing from this
analysis is the fact that many forms of
contraception are also abortifacients.
Also missing was that the
medical definition of conception had
been changed in 1965. Had they factored
this into their model, the authors could
not make their case. (Not that
their model is accurate to begin with..)
Another analysis (not from the same
authors) titled
Relationships Between Contraception and
Abortion: A review of the Evidence
(Adobe Acrobat Required), published in
the March 2003 issue of International
Family Planning Perspectives, also tries
to prove that contraception reduces
abortion.
Missing from this review was the fact
that many types of contraception are
also abortifacients. In fact, one
chart ("Figure 1") purported to show how
IUD use lead to a decrease in abortion.
The authors continently forgot to
point out that IUDs are abortifacients,
preventing the implantation of tiny
human.. Had they calculated that
into their chart, they couldn't have
made this particular claim.
"If you build it, they will come" is
a thought which is missing from this
debate. We don't live in a static
world where the introduction of
widespread contraception doesn't lead to
more sex and reduced abortion.
Related links:
http://www.contraception-abortion.com
http://www.pregnancyredefined.com
Medical Dictionaries Prove Plan B
Advocates Wrong
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruben Obregon is the the President and
co-founder of No Room for Contraception.
He has worked in the pro-family movement
for the past 16 years on issues ranging
from education to marriage.
