I had so many vasectomy jokes!

...but they've all fallen by the wayside, because other people have already said them. What a bummer! I still don't know how to link to things, so here is what I'm commenting on: http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/pdfs/AbortionomicsFINALReport.pdf

So this new article is out, titled "Abortionomics: When Choice is a Necessity," and it's pretty amazing. I should preface this post by saying that I am very much pro choice, and believe very strongly in a woman's right to autonomy over her own body. I've also been everywhere from dismayed to downright terrified by the recent discussions of contraception in the national conversation. Imagine my excitement, then, when I found Abortionomics!

This article brings together a number of studies to show that as the economy flounders, more low income women and families have to opt for abortions rather than carry a fetus to term. Shocking! Not only do they opt for abortions, but they rely more heavily upon contraceptives and vasectomies (trivia: which of these three options has not been attacked by the Great White Men of Congress?).

It is not surprising that abortion rates are higher among low income women; while at a national level the number of abortions has fallen steadily since Roe v. Wade in 1973, between 1994 and 2000 the only group whose abortion rate rose was that of low income women. Financial strain is usually a driving force behind deciding to end a pregnancy. As income level increases, the rate of abortion decreases. It's not tough to find the correlation.

So what's the answer? Let's not defund family planning institutions. Let's stop debating whether or not contraception (used by something like 98% of sexually active women, right?) should be covered by insurance policies. Let's wage war on vasectomies! I jest about that last one. Let's all read the above report. LET'S TRUST WOMEN.

Oh and let's watch last weekend's SNL Weekend Update segment "REALLY? With Seth And Amy" because Amy Poehler is a gift from Yahweh.