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Doug Kmiec Pushes False Claim Abortions Increased Under President Bush
Life News ^ | 5/29/09 | Steven Ertelt

Posted on 05/29/2009 1:27:26 PM PDT by wagglebee

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- During a debate on Thursday between pro-life Princeton University professor Robert George and pro-Obama apologist Douglas Kmiec, Kmiec continued the false notion that abortions increased during the tenure of pro-life President George W. Bush.

During the debate, held at the National Press Club, Kmiec went further than those who suggested abortions rose under Bush. He also claimed that abortions rose under the first President Bush.

However, as University of Alabama professor Michael New explains in a new op-ed on National Review Online, Kmiec's contention is inaccurate.

"Data from both the Center for Disease Control and the Alan Guttmacher Institute indicate that abortions fell during the first Bush presidency," he explained. "And the most recent data from both sources indicates that abortions were falling during the administration of George W. Bush."

"Indeed, between 2000 and 2005, data from Guttmacher indicates that the number of abortions fell by 8.1 percent and data from the CDC indicates that abortions fell by 2.9 percent," New writes.

"Between 1988 and 1992, data from Guttmacher indicate that the number of abortions fell by 3.7 percent and data from the CDC indicates that the number of abortions fell by 0.9 percent," New said about the first President Bush.

New wrote at National Review that so-called pro-life Obama backers have adopted this tactic of claiming abortions rose under both presidents in order to make it appear their pro-life bona fides are not as strong.

However, he explains that presidents can be involved in abortion issues at the federal level but that their actions have relatively little effect on abortion figures.

"More importantly, this whole argument has struck me as a bit silly," he says.

"The incidence of abortion is influenced by economic and demographic trends which presidents cannot do much to influence in the short term. Furthermore, policies enacted at the state level, such as the enactment of pro-life laws, likely have a greater impact on abortion trends," New adds.

He concluded, "Still, this nuance is lost on pro-life Obama supporters. It came as no surprise that Doug Kmiec credited the economy for the 1990s abortion decline, but said nary a word about the substantial increase in the number of states enacting pro-life laws during this time."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: abortion; bhoabortion; dougkmiec; kmiec; moralabsolutes; prolife; rino; rinoromney; romney; teamromney
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Kmiec really seems to enjoy playing the role of useful idiot.
1 posted on 05/29/2009 1:27:26 PM PDT by wagglebee
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To: cgk; Coleus; cpforlife.org; narses; Salvation; 8mmMauser

Pro-Life Ping


2 posted on 05/29/2009 1:28:19 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: 185JHP; 230FMJ; 50mm; 69ConvertibleFirebird; Aleighanne; Alexander Rubin; ...
Moral Absolutes Ping!

Freepmail wagglebee or DirtyHarryY2K to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.

FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
[ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]


3 posted on 05/29/2009 1:28:49 PM PDT by wagglebee ("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)
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To: wagglebee

Too bad his mother didn’t spare us all and take a coat hanger to him.


4 posted on 05/29/2009 1:29:01 PM PDT by LottieDah (If only those who speak so eloquently on the rights of animals would do so on behalf the unborn)
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To: wagglebee
Yeah he is. They may have increased, but it had nothing to do with the White House. It was solely the liberal cities and states driving the abortion industry numbers sky high.
5 posted on 05/29/2009 1:29:53 PM PDT by gidget7 (Duncan Hunter-Valley Forge Republican!)
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To: wagglebee

I don’t know what has happened to this man. He used to be such a staunch conservative, and in the most conventional way. What a change.


6 posted on 05/29/2009 1:30:12 PM PDT by americanophile
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To: wagglebee

Who listens to this turncoat anymore?


7 posted on 05/29/2009 1:30:37 PM PDT by Welcome2thejungle
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To: wagglebee

Kmiec is nothing but a Democratic party hack. Being Catholic does NOT mean being Democrat, no matter how much Kmiec, Reese, etc. seem to think so.


8 posted on 05/29/2009 1:31:17 PM PDT by Unam Sanctam
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To: wagglebee

Something is seriously wrong with that guy.


9 posted on 05/29/2009 1:31:31 PM PDT by Matchett-PI ("Conservatism is about freedom, and fighting people who want to take it away." Rush Limbaugh)
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To: wagglebee

Since conservatives dont support abortion and therefore dont use it, and children typically grow up with their parents values, then would it be safe to assume that only Liberals are getting abortions and thus, are decreasing the population of probable Liberals for the future? Hmmmmm, deep thoughts....


10 posted on 05/29/2009 1:31:37 PM PDT by scoobysnak71 (Just a National Security Threat, trying to get a nut.)
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To: wagglebee

i used to think it was demon possession or a brain tumor. now i am convinced he is just a plain ole attention whore.


11 posted on 05/29/2009 1:32:12 PM PDT by xsmommy
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To: scoobysnak71

You’re right, of course. That’s why the far left is so earnest to control education at every level. Their plans are to indoctrinate other people’s children with the value-free beliefs of the far left.


12 posted on 05/29/2009 1:34:32 PM PDT by Sgt_Schultze (Si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: xsmommy; wagglebee

My diagnosis has long been brain tumor or angling for a judgeship.

Whatever explains his behavior, it’s pathetic to watch.


13 posted on 05/29/2009 1:36:16 PM PDT by freespirited (Is this a nation of laws or a nation of Democrats? -- Charles Krauthammer)
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To: freespirited

i think he is now addicted to all of the attention. he is DREAMING if he thinks he will get a judgeship, no way the hard left would sign off on someone like him.


14 posted on 05/29/2009 1:39:12 PM PDT by xsmommy
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To: americanophile
As my daddy would have said, "Somebody got pictures of him in a low-class whorehouse."

Hard to believe a guy would sell his soul for a judgeship or ambassadorship. It just ain't worth it, Dougie.

15 posted on 05/29/2009 1:39:18 PM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of ye Chasse, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: AnAmericanMother

Even those he works with and who know him well cannot explain it.


16 posted on 05/29/2009 1:40:18 PM PDT by xsmommy
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To: wagglebee

Backed Romney first, then Obama. Hardly prolife.


17 posted on 05/29/2009 1:42:10 PM PDT by iowamark (certified by Michael Steele as "ugly and incendiary")
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To: iowamark

he has revealed himself as an extremely petty and venal man.


18 posted on 05/29/2009 1:44:22 PM PDT by xsmommy
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To: xsmommy

I think he is dreaming too. But you never know, after the One has made scores of lower court appointments and as the 2012 election approaches, he might decide to appoint a token nonliberal so he can tout that he has been non-ideological when he hits the campaign trail.

Caleefornia is a lost cause anyway, anything a Judge Kmiec would do would be overturned by the Ninth Circus.


19 posted on 05/29/2009 1:44:41 PM PDT by freespirited (Is this a nation of laws or a nation of Democrats? -- Charles Krauthammer)
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To: freespirited

I read he was one of the three that Obams offered up as potential Vatican ambassadors, to which the Vatican gave the kibosh. I SOOOOO wish that had been an on the record offer and turn down.


20 posted on 05/29/2009 1:46:52 PM PDT by xsmommy
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