# Abortion numbers under Bill Clinton vs others? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 30, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528 "2007-10-30T02:56:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/1 "2007-10-30T02:56:01Z")
Naturally, this is not the place to debate the issue of abortion. But I have a question regarding historical facts. I am in receipt of a relative’s email, part of which stated the following: Bill did more to advance abortion than any other president. Of course, the statement is ambiguous. It doesn’t say, for example, “More abortions took place during the Bill Clinton administration than any other”, but I think one good place to start is to determine the accuracy of the revised question (in green). Any additional facts relating to the claim as stated (in blue) would also be appreciated. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/2 "2007-10-30T02:59:35Z")
[Here’s a chart](http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/abortionstats.html). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/3 "2007-10-30T03:06:07Z")
What exactly do they say Clinton actually did? AFAIK, he did nothing to change the abortion laws during his term. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/4 "2007-10-30T03:09:44Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] What exactly do they say Clinton actually did? AFAIK, he did nothing to change the abortion laws during his term. [/QUOTE] If I’m reading the table correctly, abortions declined during Clinton’s tenure and continue to decline. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/5 "2007-10-30T03:16:39Z")
So… he created more unwanted pregnancies than any other president? I could buy that. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/6 "2007-10-30T03:24:32Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] If I’m reading the table correctly, abortions declined during Clinton’s tenure and continue to decline. [/QUOTE] According to those AGI numbers, I’m seeing 1.7 million more abortions during Reagan’s terms than in Clinton’s. How about that? ---
**Author:** ![Unix\_Geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unix_geek/32/19368_2.png) [@Unix\_Geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unix_Geek)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/7 "2007-10-30T04:29:58Z")
Demographics changed between the 80’s and 90’s. The US (along with the other industrialized countries) is getting older. The more important number, and one that is not given by the chart, is the number of abortions compared to the number of pregnancies. Warning .pdf file: [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/teenpreg1990-2002\_tables.pdf#1](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/teenpreg1990-2002_tables.pdf#1) The chart above shows the number of pregnancies and abortions for 15 to 19 year olds. In 1990, 1,017,000 pregnancies for 15 to 19 year olds. 351,000 abortions. So approximately 35% of the pregnancies ended in abortions. Again these numbers are for 15 to 19 year olds. In 2000. 834,000 pregnancies, 235,000 abortions or 28% ending in abortion. So the rate of abortions among 15 to 19 year olds in the US fell during the Clinton administration. ---
**Author:** ![ambushed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@ambushed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ambushed)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/8 "2007-10-30T07:15:46Z")
Please accept my most enthusiastic thanks to all! ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/9 "2007-10-30T13:13:10Z")
And, of course, there seems to be about 48,589,993 women who volunterred for this procedure. ---
**Author:** ![xxfireangel13xx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/cab0a1/32.png) [@xxfireangel13xx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xxfireangel13xx)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/10 "2007-10-30T14:30:07Z")
This is more of an opinion…just throwing it out there… I think a major factor people leave out in a question like this (or statement) is that politics only effect abortions very minimally. Even when abortions were illegal and taboo, people were still getting them done secretly. Its a matter of culture… every decade American culture is becoming more accepting of an individual’s right of choice. The difference between Clinton’s time and Reagan’s is not that people were getting more abortions during the Clinton administration (the chart is evidence that isn’t true) but that the culture during Reagan’s time still considered it inappropriate to get one… the same is true for divorces or gay partnerships. For example, it’s not that there are more gays now then there were before, it’s just that culture is more accepting now of gay culture, people in the gay community no longer have to be ashamed of how they live there lives… The laws could still say abortions are illegal, being a homosexual is illegal, divorces are illegal… but that’s not going to stop people from getting abortions, from participating in homosexual acts, from separating a marriage and having relationships with others. It will just all go underground more or less so that you may not hear about it as much. It’s a matter of culture, not politics. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/11 "2007-10-30T16:05:38Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > According to those AGI numbers… I don’t know who AGI are, so I just looked at the CDC numbers. [QUOTE=xxfireangel13xx] (the chart is evidence that isn’t true) [/QUOTE] Why do you say the chart isn’t true? [Here](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5511a1.htm) is the CDC page from which the CDC numbers were taken. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/12 "2007-10-30T16:38:33Z")
**Johnny** , I think you misread what **fireangel** said. ‘The chart is evidence that [that, meaning the assertion of Clinton’s influence on abortion] isn’t true.’ ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/13 "2007-10-30T17:03:46Z")
[QUOTE=xxfireangel13xx] It’s a matter of culture, not politics. [/QUOTE] I agree, and part of it is I think it’s not nearly as much stigma to be an unwed mother as it was even 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/14 "2007-10-30T17:25:37Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] **Johnny** , I think you misread what **fireangel** said. ‘The chart is evidence that [that, meaning the assertion of Clinton’s influence on abortion] isn’t true.’ [/QUOTE] You’re right. I read it as ‘evidence **which** isn’t true.’ ---
**Author:** ![xxfireangel13xx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/cab0a1/32.png) [@xxfireangel13xx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xxfireangel13xx)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/15 "2007-10-30T21:31:25Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Why do you say the chart isn’t true? [Here](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5511a1.htm) is the CDC page from which the CDC numbers were taken. [/QUOTE] Not that the chart isn’t true.. the “isn’t true” was applied to the sentence before meaning that the chart is true lol.. was it that confusing? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/16 "2007-10-31T09:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=xxfireangel13xx] This is more of an opinion…just throwing it out there.. I think a major factor people leave out in a question like this (or statement) is that politics only effect abortions very minimally. Even when abortions were illegal and taboo, people were still getting them done secretly. Its a matter of culture.. every decade American culture is becoming more accepting of an individual’s right of choice. The difference between Clinton’s time and Reagan’s is not that people were getting more abortions during the Clinton administration (the chart is evidence that isn’t true) but that the culture during Reagan’s time still considered it inappropriate to get one.. the same is true for divorces or gay partnerships. For example, it’s not that there are more gays now then there were before, it’s just that culture is more accepting now of gay culture, people in the gay community no longer have to be ashamed of how they live there lives… The laws could still say abortions are illegal, being a homosexual is illegal, divorces are illegal… but that’s not going to stop people from getting abortions, from participating in homosexual acts, from separating a marriage and having relationships with others. It will just all go underground more or less so that you may not hear about it as much. It’s a matter of culture, not politics. [/QUOTE] I look forward to our culture becoming more accepting of dividing writing into paragraphs. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/17 "2007-10-31T14:49:39Z")
It’s generally agree that the use of birth control has been increasing since the early 1990’s, so the decrease in the number of abortions during Clinton’s time in office has more to do with the use of birth control than the acceptibility of abortions. Furthermore, some polls show that the average age of first intercourse has been increasing since the early 1990’s. It’s clear that the number of teenage pregnancies is now at its lowest point in many decades. (Note that all the above statistics are just addressing the situation in the U.S.) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abortion-numbers-under-bill-clinton-vs-others/424528/18 "2007-10-31T15:43:15Z")
I read a related statistic in a recent issue of the Economist: countries where abortion is illegal tend to have slightly higher abortion rates than countries where it is legal. If the correlation between abortion illegality and abortion rate exists over time as it does over geography, one would have to state whether a politician increased both antiabortion laws and abortion rates, or decreased them both. I read “to advance abortion” in the sense of decreasing antiabortion laws while also increasing abortion rate, which would run against the statistical tendency.