Abortions drop: More love for Kiwi Kids

Great news - Abortion numbers drop, a headline in yesterday's Herald read.

Yet today the Herald has released an update on this story, Abortion drop may mean people are being more careful, says reform group.

More careful?!!

Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand president Dr Margaret Sparrow is quoted as saying;

"I'm hopeful that what it means is there's better use of contraception, better sex education and people are being more careful. But without research, one cannot really say that."

Personally, I'm hopeful it is because Kiwis are preferring to let their children live rather than killing them.

For some reason the Herald seemed to miss this story reported last month: Birth rates at highest level in nearly 20 years. One would think a year in which abortions fell by 440, and births increased by 1000, that a person researching the topic would consider that among those 1000 births were 440 that might have otherwise been aborted, but weren't. Wouldn't that be great news!

But, according to Margaret,

"Without research, one cannot really say that. Stats will never be able to say why the figures have gone down."

One would wonder, then, why Margaret would want to employ that stats for the joy of contraceptive success, rather than celebrate 440 lives that might not have been. I would imagine it would be because that entails a moral judgment. But then, so does celebrating contraception - it contains the judgment that a caring person is someone who prevents birth.

I agree with the Herald headline, that the Abortion drop may mean people are being more careful. I think the word care is more meaningful when applied to a situation where two adults cherish and protect an infant, rather than one where they violently guard themselves against the oppression of childbearing.

Hat Tip: Kiwi Chronicles: the silence of the womb