By Dave Andrusko
A new study by the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, released today, is a study in artifice.
How do you maintain the myth that “punitive” abortion laws are causing lengthy delays when your own study proves otherwise?
To begin with, we are told the authors—Rachel K. Jones and Jenna Jerman—“relied on data from a national sample of patients obtaining abortions in nonhospital facilities, which was gathered through the Guttmacher Institute’s 2014 Abortion Patient Survey.”
Let’s examine the Guttmacher press release headlined, “Most Patients Able to Obtain an Abortion Within One Week of Calling for an Appointment; Nearly One in 10 Wait More Than Two Weeks.”
#1. We learn from “Time to Appointment and Delays in Accessing Care Among U.S. Abortion Patients” that within a week of calling to make an abortion appointment more than 3 in 4 women “are able to obtain the procedure.”
#2. What explains “the delay of more than 14 days” for 7% of the women? (Interesting, but typically, Guttmacher rounds 7% up to “nearly one in 10 abortion patients.”)
Three characteristics: “exposure to disruptive life events, such as losing a job or falling behind on rent (which may lead to financial hardships that require patients to use additional time to find money for the procedure); obtaining a second-trimester procedure and living in a state with a waiting period requirement.”
#3. What explains “shorter delays”? According to Guttmacher, “having had two or more births, exposure to disruptive life events, reliance on subsidies or discounts to pay for abortion care, and living in a state with a waiting period requirement.”
So, 76% of women have their abortions within a week of calling the abortion clinic. Most delays are because they have living children, have financial problems, and/or because they are seeking later abortions which fewer abortion clinics perform and are much more expensive.
What about the impact of waiting periods? “Finally, legal restrictions in the form of waiting periods could lead to a longer time to appointment.”
These people are shameless.