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NRL News
THE FRUITS OF PRO-LIFE
WORK Since NRLC’s founding in 1973, we have been working strenuously to change attitudes about abortion. That we have made great progress is evident from numerous opinion polls and abortion statistics from the Guttmacher Institute (GI) and government agencies. The yearly number of abortions rose rapidly until reaching a plateau of about 1.55 million around 1980. It peaked at 1.6 million in 1990 and declined from that level by 25% to 1.2 million in 2005. The abortion rate, the number of abortions per 1000 women of child-bearing age, peaked at 29.3 in 1980 – 81. It declined 33% to 19.4 in 2005. Note that the number of women of childbearing age (15 – 44) rose from 52 to 61.8 million, or by over 16%, from 1980 to 2005. The fact that the abortion rate declined over 25 years, while the number of women of childbearing age rose, points to an attitudinal change in women with regard to abortion. The abortion rate rose briskly during the 1970s and peaked in 1980 – 81, going into a steady decline thereafter. The frequently given explanation that an increased use of contraception and fewer abortion providers caused the turn-around and subsequent decline is surely inadequate. The change-over from swift rise to prolonged decline was too rapid for that. There were, however, important developments beyond these conventional explanations. n The pro-life movement had organized itself and gained “critical mass” by 1980. n Many women who had had abortions joined the right-to-life movement. n The abortion issue became a motivating force for social conservatives in the campaign that made Ronald Reagan president. Not surprisingly, large numbers of Protestant pro-lifers joined NRLC. Since that pivotal election, the abortion issue has been a significant aspect of political campaigns. n NRLC and its state affiliates became increasingly adept at launching educational and legislative campaigns. The very process of public discussion of these initiatives helped the public see through the rhetorical fog of so-called “choice” and re-focused its attention on what actually happens in an abortion, namely the death of an innocent child. n Specifically, NRLC has defeated pro-abortion legislation, such as the federal “Freedom of Choice Act,” and secured the passage of legislation promoting the right to life. Among the latter are the Hyde Amendment, preventing the spending of federal funds for abortions, and the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. The educational impact of these campaigns was enormous, especially since our efforts in Congress were matched by similar laws on the state level. n NRLC’s efforts on the national level were enhanced on the state level where our affiliates were able to pass, for example, 23 women’s-right-to-know laws, 28 laws requiring parental involvement in the abortion decisions of their minor daughters, and 11 laws enabling women to see ultrasound images of their child in utero. n To these factors we must add the widespread use of ultrasound imaging during pregnancy. What pregnant women nowadays see in utero is not “a cluster of cells,” or “a blob of tissue,” or “potential life,” but a baby—their baby! The decline in the abortion rate would have been more pronounced, had it not been for a rise in the percentage of repeat abortions (at least one previous abortion). It is now around 46%. But even for repeat abortions, the rate has declined 25% since the early 1990s. One can argue that, instead of peaking in 1980, the abortion rate would have increased further were it not for the emergence of an influential pro-life movement. A conservative hypothesis would be that, without an effective pro-life movement, the hypothetical abortion rate would have stayed at the 1980 – 81 level of 29.3. From the number of women of childbearing age (15 – 44), one can compute the hypothetical number of abortions per year. With a constant abortion rate after 1981, the yearly number of abortion would have steadily increased. And instead of 1.2 million in 2005, there would have been 1.8 million or 50% more. Adding up the yearly differences between the actual and the hypothetical yearly numbers yields over 8 million lives saved by 2007—because of pro-life work and the public’s increased understanding of fetal development. For the future, our goal is two-fold: to continue our efforts to move the public away from abortion and towards a culture of life, and to work for the appointment of Supreme Court justices who respect the constitutional separation of powers. |