Elephant Ears

This blog is dedicated to the political happenings in the Valley and Southwest Virginia. As the the name implies, this blog will have posts based on what is heard by this elephant's (GOPer's) ears. It is also a great treat to get while at the county fair or a carnival.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Abortion Statistics

USAToday has an interesting article today. They show the states that would most likely "significantly restrict abortion access" if Roe v. Wade were overturned. They list Virginia in that category.
There weren't too many surprises, but the ones that were interesting to me were Alaska, Colorado, and Montana which were listed as "likely to protect abortion access". In these typically conservative states, that just struck me as odd.

Also, the article has lots of statistics on abortion for each state.
Virginia has 46 abortion providers, had 28,780 abortions (I assume last year) which is 20% of the total pregnancies. It is also 2.2% of the total abortions nationwide. By my calculations, that means well over 1 million abortions are committed every year.

I had no idea the % of pregnancies that end in abortion was so high.
D.C. had the highest rate at 37%. South Dakota had the lowest at 8%.

I am still not very confident Roe v. Wade will ever be overturned, but I do think abortion restrictions like parental notification and late-term abortion bans will continue to gain traction nationwide. Hopefully this will help curb the numbers of abortions we see in Virginia and also America as a whole.

6 Comments:

  • At 4/17/2006 3:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    On the Montana, Colorado, and Alaska point, just remember that the West subscribes to more of a libertianism view of conservatism. A true "keep you government hands away from me." It is very different from the East. Sen Ben Nighthorse Campbell was a conservative but very much pro-choice.

     
  • At 4/17/2006 5:25 PM, Blogger GOPHokie said…

    Thanks for insight, I was not aware of that.

     
  • At 4/17/2006 6:42 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I agree w/ anon 4:00 pm.

    The way in which neo-conservatives preach how they hate big government, yet invite that same gov’t into people’s bedrooms and personal lives whenever they get a chance always struck me as being hypocritical.

    Also, the survey lacks a lot of detail. For example, basic demographic info. such as age, race, income level, etc., would be helpful. I am sure it’s available, it just wasn’t published.

    If you new a little more about they types of people who were having abortions you could target that group in order to reduce the number of abortions, which should be the ultimate goal.

     
  • At 4/18/2006 6:39 AM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    Many conservatives hate government intervention, but they have always been in favour of the government upholding the rights of the people, including unborn children. It is not hypocritical from their point of view.

     
  • At 4/18/2006 6:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Nothing is going to happen with abortion in Virginia until Sen. Potts is removed from Senate Ed&Health.

     
  • At 4/18/2006 8:48 AM, Blogger GOPHokie said…

    Nothing is going to happen to abortion in Virginia (or anywhere else) until Roe v Wade is overturned.

     

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