Celebrate decline in rate of abortions in America

Charlotte Observer: Many conservative Christians said that despite his long list of improprieties and morally questionable behavior, Donald Trump was the right choice for president because a Republican would be the best option on “life.”

The numbers on the ground don’t back up that belief, though.

Given conservative Christians’ hard-line position against abortion, it is odd that they so infrequently acknowledge what should be a cause for celebration: The abortion rate fell to an all-time-low in 2014 (the most recent numbers available) and has been decreasing for the past couple of decades, along with a rapid fall in the teen-pregnancy and early sex rates.

Despite some people’s belief that life was devalued by the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationally, the procedure has decreased markedly the more deeply entrenched Roe has become in society.

PROGRESS IN OBAMA ERA

It’s not happenstance that the abortion rate hit an all-time-low during the tenure of a pro-choice president, Barack Obama, the kind of leader conservative Christians have vowed never to support because of abortion. The abortion rate’s fall accelerated during the Obama years not because of more restrictions, but because the proportion of unintended pregnancies fell from 51 percent to 45 percent.

Researchers believe that is the result of better health care, increased use of long-term contraception, and initiatives of the Obama era that have slowed the rate of unplanned pregnancies.