The connection between contraception and abortion rates

Does increased contraception use (and funding of contraception use) reduce the number of abortions? Some arguments over the question:

This columnist, from National Review Online, thinks "no."

William Saletan, from Slate, holds the more conventional view.

Here is Ross Douthat's interpretation, in The New York Times.

And here is a study (pdf) from the Lancet. The columnists are arguing, in part, over the interpretation of the data from this study.

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Medically necessary abortions: The battle of the experts

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Setting aside all of the claims and counterclaims of the candidates and all related white noise, there are four concrete ways that the 2012 presidential election could cause policy changes on abortion, contraception, and family planning. If Barack Obama is reelected, little will change. If Mitt Romney is elected, I predict the following: The contraceptive mandate, issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, would be withdrawn. Barriers to defunding Planned Parenthood could be removed. As it is now, federal courts are stopping the complete defunding of the organization (i.e., withdrawing all federal funding) due to their interpretation of federal legislative language. With Romney as president, that language could be modified (assuming the changes could get past a Democratic Senate). The composition of the federal judiciary, particularly the United States Supreme Court, would be modified through appointments. If, say, Stephen Breyer or Ruth Bader Goldberg retired, ...

Reproductive Politics

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