If we had a nickel for every person we'd heard say the news these days is too negative ... we'd probably still be inky wretches. Only with more nickels. But the news isn't always bad. Sometimes it's good, relatively speaking.
It seems the U.S. abortion rate is at its lowest level since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized this American way of death a generation ago.
Arkansas' Newspaper carried the article from the AP just this week. The lede went like this: "The number and rate of abortions across the United States have plunged to their lowest levels since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973, according to new figures released Wednesday."
Good news. Relatively speaking.
The Guttmacher Institute still counted 862,000 abortions in American clinics in 2017. While that's down from recent years, nearly 900,000 abortions were still performed. Or should we say, carried out. This isn't a performance, like a piano recital.
And none of those 862,000 people--are we allowed to call them people?--will be given a chance. At anything. So any good news must be considered relative. And exuberance tempered.
One reason for the decline in the numbers of terminated pregnancies could be the use of contraceptives and access to them. Other factors might include this country's overall declining birth rate. But another reason, or potential reason, caught our eye.
Michael New, an abortion opponent and professor at Catholic University of America, tells folks not to underestimate the role played by anti-abortion activists. The number of abortions might be dropping in red states and blue, but those pesky anti-abortion types are all over. Making themselves heard. And their opinions taken seriously.
"This shows that pro-life efforts to change public opinion, assist pregnant women, and pass protective laws are all having an impact," Professor New told the papers.
Let's hope so. Otherwise, some of us might wonder why we are here.
Some of us think that 862,000 abortions is 862,000 too many. The fight isn't over yet.
As for those who'd tell the papers that there is any bad news here, because certain states are fighting against abortion with legislation, well, we just don't get it. But then, we've been told that before.
Editorial on 09/20/2019