Article adapted from episode content.
The idea that electing a Republican president leads to an increase in abortions is a deceptive argument circulating among some circles. This assertion is rooted in a flawed understanding of the pro-life movement and a misinterpretation of abortion data. Let’s examine the facts.
First, it’s crucial to recognize that the pro-life movement aims for more than just a reduction in abortion rates. The ultimate objective is to secure comprehensive legal protection for unborn humans. While we celebrate any decrease in the number of abortions, it doesn’t achieve the ultimate goal if the practice remains legal. Imagine a society where racial segregation is reduced but lynching remains legal. Would we consider that a just society? Similarly, merely reducing abortions without addressing their legality falls short of the justice we seek for the unborn.
Second, the claim that abortion rates rise under Republican presidents crumbles under scrutiny. This argument often relies on incomplete and misleading data. The CDC collects abortion statistics, but reporting by states is entirely voluntary. Consequently, states with significant populations, such as California, New York, and New Jersey, frequently omit their abortion data. This lack of comprehensive data makes it impossible to draw definitive conclusions about abortion rate fluctuations under presidents from different parties. To claim otherwise is intellectually dishonest and ignores the complexities of data collection.
Furthermore, proponents of this false claim often cherry-pick their data points. They start with Ronald Reagan, highlighting the high abortion rates during his presidency, but conveniently ignore the sharp rise in abortions under his Democratic predecessor, Jimmy Carter. A fair analysis would consider the complete historical context. **In reality, abortion rates have consistently declined under every president since the late 1980s, regardless of their party affiliation.** This trend points to factors beyond presidential influence that affect abortion rates.
Another misleading argument suggests that banning abortion leads to an increase in its occurrence. However, the experience following the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, debunks this notion. In states that actively promote abortion and position themselves as havens for abortion tourism, such as Illinois and California, abortion rates have indeed surged. This is not surprising given their proactive stance. However, in states that have enacted bans or restrictions on abortion, the rates have demonstrably decreased. This clearly shows that the legality of abortion directly correlates with its prevalence.
Finally, attributing changes in abortion rates solely to the president’s party oversimplifies a complex issue. Numerous factors, including access to contraception, socioeconomic conditions, and cultural attitudes, influence a woman’s decision regarding abortion. Reducing this multifaceted issue to a simple equation of “Republican president equals more abortions” is not only inaccurate but also disrespects the women facing these difficult choices.
The assertion that voting for a Republican president leads to an increase in abortions is demonstrably false. It relies on manipulated data, ignores crucial context, and overlooks the broader factors influencing abortion rates. The pro-life movement remains committed to protecting unborn life through legal means, and this goal cannot be achieved by perpetuating misleading narratives.
Episode Transcript
This transcript was generated from the episode’s YouTube captions and lightly edited for readability: filler words and the mid-show announcements have been removed. It may still contain transcription errors.
Should Christians vote for Democrats because abortion rates drop when we have a Democrat president instead of a republican one? Hi friends, Welcome to The Case for Life podcast. Today we’re going to take up a rather interesting question. It’s from our mailbag. A viewer writes: I’ve heard that abortion rates go down when Democrats have the presidency and go up when Republicans do. What should I think of this? I’ll give you my thoughts on that, but before we do, let me invite you to go to our social media sites.
Like us there. Spread the word subscribe. We’d love to have you helping us get word out about this podcast. All right, what about this idea that abortion rates go down when Democrats have the white House, despite the fact that they promote abortion wholesale and want it to remain legal, and they go up when Republicans are in power, who allegedly want to restrict abortion? The implicit argument here is that the law actually has a negative effect on abortion rates. That’s the hidden premise in this argument.
So let’s take a look at this for a moment. First of all, the idea that reducing abortion is the only thing we’re worried about is really a false idea. The pro-life view is not only that we should reduce abortion, though we rejoice whenever that happens. Rather, our argument is that The Unborn have a natural right to life that the state should recognize and protect, and other words, our ultimate goal is legal protection for unborn humans. While we rejoice that abortion is reduced in some cases and we applaud whenever it is, it is not true that that’s the only thing we’re aiming at.
So merely reducing abortion is not enough. We need legal protection for unborn humans, and no Democrat president, as the party is currently constructed, is going to go for that end goal that we have in mind. They’re going to oppose it and promote abortion legally. To give you an idea of how absurd this argument is, imagine we had a society that reduced racial segregation but still said it was okay legally for you to Lynch black people. Wouldn’t we consider that an immoral society, even if the number of segregated racial assaults was reduced?
A society that reduced lynching but still left it legal for you to hang a black man is an evil society, even if the number of hangings diminish. So keep in mind that merely reducing abortion is not the sufficient goal that we’re after as prol lifers. The second thing I would point out is this: how does anyone know with any degree of certainty that numbers go up under Republicans and go down under Democrats. Here’s the problem. Reporting on abortion is completely voluntary.
The CDC collects abortion statistics, but states don’t have a requirement that they must report abortion data. The vast majority of States, don’t report data in terms of population size. What I mean by that is, though, numerically, the number of states reporting is in the majority, where most abortions happen. Often these states don’t report anything. States like California, New York, New Jersey these are heavily populated states and they often do not report their abortion data. Therefore, to extrapolate: oh, the number goes up under Republicans and down under Democrats.
How can they know that when reporting of abortion data is completely voluntary, it is not required. That requirement was lifted in the late 80s, early 90s, so we can’t really know for sure what these numbers are doing when the reporting is voluntary. The other thing I would point out is, every time I’ve heard someone say that the numbers go up under Republicans and go down under Democrats, I say: how far are you going back in your survey? And they always start with Ronald Reagan, not Jimmy Carter, when abortion rat sky rocketed.
They ignore the Carter presidency and they start with Ronald Reagan and say: look under Ronald Reagan, the abortion rate reached over a million a year. Well, what they don’t tell you is how fast it went up under Carter. They ignore that altogether and they start with Reagan and then say: see, it’s been trending downward with Democrat presidents. Here’s the problem again with that. The truth is they’re half right and half wrong. It’s true, abortion rates have dro dropped, but they’ve dropped under every president.
Since the late 1980s there’s been a steady decline across the country, just going on the reported data, which, I admit, is not the full picture of what we’re getting. Nevertheless, even with the reported data, the rates have dropped, and we’ve seen this whether it’s a democrat or a republican. So, with that steady decline, I think we need to look a little deeper than just who’s in the white House. I would also point out that people today are saying: look, since the Dos decision, abortion has gone up in this country.
There are more abortions. That’s not going to work either, and let me explain why. Abortion rates have indeed gone up dramatically in states that are promoting abortion and promoting themselves as abortion tourism States like Illinois, California and others where New York, for example, where the state governments are advertising in red States: come to our states. We’ll pay for you to get here so you can have your abortion, and the rates have gone up. Of course it’s gone up. In those States they’re promoting abortion, but in states that have banned abortion and restricted it, the rates in those states have gone down.
Now, if all the states had bans in place, the rates would go down. So it’s simply not true that if you ban abortion, the rates go up and if you make it legal, they are reduced. That is not a credible argument at all and it’s not true posts. It wasn’t true post Row. The reality is that states that promote AB abortion are going to see increases in the upward fashion that are pretty dramatic, and states that ban it. In those States the rate will go down.
The law is indeed a moral indicator of practice. So don’t buy this idea that by voting for conservatives, you’re actually increasing the number of abortions. This is a fake, phony thing that you see people like Phil vizer and others putting out there, and it’s just not true. Thanks for joining us today. Appreciate you watching. Be sure to visit our social media sites and like us there and spread the word, and I’ll look forward to seeing you next time.