The abortion movement is losing more than Americans' support. A new study shows that it also lost a significant chunk of business between 1990-2008. During those 18 years, the government says the abortion rate plummeted by 32% among women in their early twenties. Although the decline was smaller for women in their late twenties, there was still a noticeable drop (6%) in the older demographic.
According to experts on both sides, abortion rates are down across the board - a victory FRC celebrated in February when the government announced that the teen abortion rate had plunged by 59% from 1988 to 2008. One factor helping to build a culture of life is the growth of pregnancy resource centers, which FRC documents in A Passion to Serve.
Pregnancy rates, birth rates, and abortion rates have all fallen off--a trend that most liberals are chalking up to increased birth control. But taken together with another recently published report from the Centers for Disease Control, abstinence seems to have been a major factor.
After eight years of prioritizing abstinence education, the country may finally be seeing the fruit of President Bush's emphasis on "save" sex. Unfortunately, when liberals took over Congress and the White House, they not only zeroed out abstinence education, but they made teaching it a disqualifying factor for federal grants. Time will tell if the birth rates can withstand the administration's multi-million dollar, Planned Parenthood-style "if it feels good, do it 'safely'" sex education. As the Bush years are starting to show, self-control is a good personal policy - but it's also good public policy.
Source: Family Research Council
