The Fraud of Abortion Reduction

During the 2008 US Presidential Election, a small number of left-wing Evangelical leaders (Jim Wallis, Brian McLaren, Tony Compolo) and left-wing Catholics (Doug Kmeic, Alexis Kelley, etc.) claimed that the best way to reduce the number of abortions was to vote for Obama, despite Obama's rabidly pro-choice record and stance. This counter-intuitive proposition was based on two claims: 1) that passing pro-life laws such parental notification requirements in the case of minors or waiting periods do not work and 2) improving welfare payments to single mothers and families do work to reduce the number of abortions. A much -heralded study was released by Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good that purported to prove the second claim.

Now that study has turned out to be fatally flawed.

Until recently, a Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good study of abortion data claimed that increased spending on welfare programs results in substantial reductions in state abortion rates but many pro-life laws do not. However, the study’s results have been revised following the discovery that incorrect abortion data was used and after criticism from a professor that the group’s conclusions did not follow from the data.

Jim Wallis' blog "God's Politics" referenced this study as if it were evidence for voting Democrat in the 2008 Presidential election. See:

http://blog.sojo.net/2008/09/04/new-study-on-abortion-reduction-by-mary-nelson/