Study Shows that More Access to Birth Control Means Fewer Abortions

A study has been released by the World Health Organization and the Guttmacher Institute that went from 1995 to 2003 finds that abortions are fewer in countries where they are legal and birth control is easily accessible. In Western Europe there are 12 abortions per 1000 live births, but in North America the rate is 21 per 1000. In countries where the procedure is outlawed, the abortion rate is higher, including 39 per 1000 in Eastern Africa and 33 per 1000 in South America.

This shows that the efforts of the Clinton Administration to make abortion "safe, legal, and rare" may be the best way to lower the number of abortions. Easy access to birth control is one way to make sure that there are fewer abortions.

The sad thing is, however, that too many "pro-life" groups don't want to make access to birth control easier, they want to make it harder. What motivates such groups is a belief that the power of the State should be used to discourage sex outside of marriage. In the real world, however, people don't seem to be having less sex outside of marriage. Therefore, what society should be doing is making it easier to access birth control and educating people about birth control so there will be a need for fewer and fewer abortions.