LET’S TALK ABOUT SOMETHING LESS CONTROVERSIAL…LIKE ABORTION

10/4/19

The above line is one of my favorites when I am in a group that is getting into a heated discussion about some topic that shouldn’t be capable of melting an ice cube.   For those few of you who aren’t getting it, the line was meant to be ironic.  But I digress.

Last month, it was reported that the abortion rate in this country had reached a recorded low, a rate not seen since records on this, depending on which side you are talking to, medical procedure or murderous abomination had been kept.  

When these numbers, yours truly had two thoughts:

1. Terrific; how can a record low abortion rate possibly be bad news?
2. Still, this is going to generate controversy because a lot of people are in the business of making this most controversial of topics even more controversial.

I was disappointed, at least in a sense, or maybe just surprised, on both counts because the reaction to this news was muted.   Not even the most ardent pro-lifers were vocally delighted and the only controversy that the numbers evoked was an argument (of course) regarding the reasons behind this drop.   And even the latter was conducted at an amazingly low decibel level.

While Clarence Page noticed the numbers and wrote a reasoned column on the reasons behind the drop in abortions, I think he, and just about anybody else, who commented on this issue missed the larger point.   So I wrote the below letter to the Chicago Tribune responding to Mr. Page’s column.  It wasn’t published, which isn’t surprising; both the Tribune and the Sun-Times publish only two or three letters per day.   Nonetheless, this letter, like all of my writings, should not go unnoticed, so I’m sharing it with my readers:

9/22/19

In his 9/22/19 column, Clarence Page attributes our nation’s record low abortion rates to increased use of contraceptives rather than to state abortion restrictions.   The evidence seems to support Mr. Page’s contention, but the reason behind the steady drop in abortions since 2011 is not as important as the fact of the steady drop in abortions during that period.   While there would be some obvious policy implications from the answer to the contraception vs. legal restriction argument, that answer will probably never be found given the highly emotionally charged nature of the arguments on the many sides of the abortion issue.   For now, at least, everybody should simply be happy that fewer abortions are taking place regardless of the reasons for that reduction.

The drop in the abortion rate to record lows provides abundant evidence of the wisdom of Ronald Reagan’s long-ago observation that it is amazing what can get accomplished if we don’t care who gets the credit.