Reproductive Politics

I haven't had a chance to read and analyze this study , but I wanted to pass it on to you in the meantime. The study, which compares contraceptive use and abortion rates in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, is making pro-life activists happy. From what I can gather on a quick reading, the authors compared declining abortion rates in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine, and noted that Russia's abortion rate is not declining as quickly as it is in the other two countries and remains high. They also determined that Russian women are more likely to use "modern" methods of contraception than women in Belarus and Ukraine. These observations, taken together, appear to validate the pro-life assertion that more contraceptive use = more sexual activity = more contraceptive failure and unintended pregnancies = more abortions. In other words, the promotion of contraceptives, rather than abstinence as a means of preventing pregnancy, leads to more abortions. Note that, from what I rea