Roundup: Dem Party Platform, Abortion Rate in New York, McCain the Pro-Life Zealot

Wrangling over the Democratic Party Platform, high abortion rate in New York, McCain is a pro-life zealot.

High Rates of Abortion in New York
In the United States a whole, 24 abortions are carried out for every 100 live births. But in New York, the rate is three times that: 72 abortions are carried out for every 100 live births, Crain’s Business News reported over the weekend. To Crain’s, this suggests that "many women are using abortion as their birth control method of choice." But Crain’s also acknolwedges that lack of access to affordable contraception may fuel the high abortion rate.

While it’s is wise to point out that abortion, when used as a primary method of birth control, offers no protection against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, Crain’s fails to point out that many forms of hormonal birth control – the Pill, the patch, the ring – don’t either. And the news outlet’s discussion of possible abortion "side effects" is not as scientifically-grounded as it could be:

Surgical abortion always carries risks, though slight, of complications-including ones that can tear or scar the uterus and compromise a woman’s ability to have healthy children in the future, Dr. Hoskins says.

There is an ongoing debate about the emotional consequences of abortion. A spokeswoman for the state Department of Health says that no studies have shown it damages women psychologically. Dr. Hoskins and others interviewed disagree and offer anecdotes about patients who felt guilt and regret.


Crain’s doesn’t mention that this "ongoing debate" is between mainstream medical and psychological organizations like the American Psychological Association, who state unequivocally that there is no such affliction as so-called "Post Abortion Syndrome," and anti-choice activists who don’t have evidence on their side. And medical professionals acknowledge that abortion is one of the safest medical procedures ever performed.

Wrangling Over Abortion in Democratic Party Platform

The Democratic Party already wants abortion to be "safe, legal and rare" – or so says its party platform – but should the Party call for abortion to become rarer still? Eric Zimmerman at TNR has the story on the efforts of Democrats for Life to include abortion reduction in the Democratic Party Platform. Until 2004, the platform did call for abortion to become rarer. But as Kate Michelman and Frances Kissling amply demonstrated in a Salon op-ed, the Party already supports the ingredients that would actually decrease unintended pregnancies. Calling for abortion reduction based on a supposed moral opposition to the procedure "will be understood for what it is:
condescending and sexist. It is likely to stoke, not slake, the flames
of anger, since women are well aware of the moral dimensions of
pregnancy; they were not a novel discovery made circa 2004," write Michelman and Kissling.

Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards, NARAL Pro-Choice America’s Nancy Keenan, and Feminist Majority Foundation’s Eleanor Smeal all provided testimony at the Democratic National Committee Platform Hearings.

Sarah Blustain Has the Last Word on McCain and Choice
He might sound clueless on whenever he is asked to take a stand on reproductive and sexual health issues, but don’t mistake John McCain for dispassionate, uninterested, or open to persuasion on any issue related to women’s health and rights, argues Sarah Blustain in a new piece on John McCain’s record on choice issues, including abortion, access to contraception, funding for women’s health clinics, international family planning, and much more.

Blustain writes:

 

McCain has spent years manipulating the public’s perception of his stance on abortion and reproductive health. He’s been against overturning Roe v. Wade and he’s been for it; he’s embraced the idea of a pro-choice running mate and, more recently, recoiled from it. It’s no wonder the public is confused.


But in fact:

There is no "latitude" in McCain’s position on abortion. Interviews with dozens of people who have dealt with him on the issue–pro-choice and pro-life activists, Hill staffers, McCain confidants, pollsters, and staffers–along with a two-and-a-half-decade-long perfectly anti-abortion voting record, make that clear. And his record on related issues, like contraception, is no better.


And while McCain may not sound like a mouthpiece of the religious right when he’s pressed on choice issues, like, for instance, whether insurers who provide coverage for Viagra should be required to cover birth control, or whether contraception is an essential component of HIV prevention, his apparent lack of knowledge does not indicate apathy.

Blustain explains:

When pressed to speak about [reproductive health issues], he often evinces stunning ignorance, a fact that helps reassure the moderate middle that he could not possibly be as conservative as his record suggests…But the public should not be distracted by these deviations from right-wing orthodoxy. McCain may or may not truly understand the broader definition of "pro-life," which these days also includes opposition to traditional and emergency contraception, family-planning, euthanasia, and related federal funding both here and abroad. (Playing the bumbling fool and satisfying no one is certainly an easier escape than trying to satisfy all.) But, as on abortion, both data and anecdote show there is little latitude in his positions.