# GOP plan to appeal to millennials: “Make abortion funny” **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 19, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317 "2013-06-19T00:45:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/61 "2013-06-20T00:31:41Z")
[I’m totally psyched about this abortion!](http://www.theonion.com/articles/im-totally-psyched-about-this-abortion,10931/) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/62 "2013-06-20T00:43:38Z")
The spirit of Twain resides in this young woman. She’s got the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/63 "2013-06-20T00:53:06Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Doesn’t seem like insulting someone’s mother would be a winning strategy, but maybe it works for conservatives. “Yo mama’s _so_ heedless of the sanctity of life…” ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/64 "2013-06-20T03:10:12Z")
I think it’s funny that solidly Democratic states (tend to) have higher abortion rates than their Republican counterparts and a greater percentage of abortions obtained by women who live in state rather than out of state compared to their counterparts. …On second thought, I guess that’s not funny. But ignorance is, so there you go. As to the thread, there is something to be said about this. For whatever reason or another, a lot of people my age group seen to gravitate towards those outlets who rely solely on humor or parody-- outlets which don’t really do anything except tell you what you should think. As a result, you get people who “know” what they don’t know, resulting in large swathes of people who label themselves pro choice but nevertheless couldn’t tell you what Roe v. Wade is, answer general knowledge questions about abortion or even know how many abortions there are in the U.S. or where those abortions mainly occur. It’s comical, but not all that surprising. (And yes, Republicans/porto lifers tend to do better than their counterparts.) An anecdote: I remember an argument I had with some chick. She tried to tell me that “only” 2.5% of pregnancies in the U.S. ended in abortion. I asked her, if there are 1.2M abortions in the U.S. per year, and that if “only” 2.5% of pregnancies end in abortion each year in the U.S., how many pregnancies would that mean there are in the U.S. per year. She looked at me like I had tried to explain differential calculus to her. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/65 "2013-06-20T03:46:00Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I think it’s funny that solidly Democratic states (tend to) have higher abortion rates than their Republican counterparts and a greater percentage of abortions obtained by women who live in state rather than out of state compared to their counterparts. Considering that the reason is no doubt the rabid hatred of women which characterizes the Republicans and their persecution of women wherever they have power, that’s both to be expected and not funny at all. > [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > As to the thread, there is something to be said about this. For whatever reason or another, a lot of people my age group seen to gravitate towards those outlets who rely solely on humor or parody–\ Because “serious” news outlets these days tend to ignore or lie about a lot of things. Only humor shows dare talk about them most of the time. > [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > (And yes, Republicans/porto lifers tend to do better than their counterparts.) Yeah, suuure they do. On the contrary, the Republicans tend to be so wrong about everything that they might as well be hallucinating, they are so detached from reality. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/66 "2013-06-20T03:46:19Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I think it’s funny that solidly Democratic states (tend to) have higher abortion rates than their Republican counterparts and a greater percentage of abortions obtained by women who live in state rather than out of state compared to their counterparts. Why is it surprising that states which have all but legislated abortion clinics out of existence have low abortion rates? I have no idea what the second part of that sentence is supposed to mean. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/67 "2013-06-20T03:49:08Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I have no idea what the second part of that sentence is supposed to mean. “Life under the Democrats is so hellish that women are aborting their babies!” Or alternatively, “Those states are full of Democratic women that kill their babies for fun!” ---
**Author:** ![Algorithm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/algorithm/32/12204_2.png) [@Algorithm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algorithm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/68 "2013-06-20T05:39:22Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I think it’s funny that solidly Democratic states (tend to) have higher abortion rates than their Republican counterparts and a greater percentage of abortions obtained by women who live in state rather than out of state compared to their counterparts. Assuming this is true, think really hard: why do you suppose this is the case? > [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > For whatever reason or another, a lot of people my age group seen to gravitate towards those outlets who rely solely on humor or parody Cite? > [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > (And yes, Republicans/porto lifers tend to do better than their counterparts.) Cite? ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/69 "2013-06-20T05:51:14Z")
I think the body has ways of shutting the sense of humor down when one’s intelligence is being assaulted by conservative dogma. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/70 "2013-06-20T06:06:18Z")
Never go to one of those Chinese abortion clinics. 20 minutes later you’re pregnant again. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/71 "2013-06-20T06:08:13Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I think it’s funny that solidly Democratic states (tend to) have higher abortion rates than their Republican counterparts and a greater percentage of abortions obtained by women who live in state rather than out of state compared to their counterparts. Some solidly Republican states have only one doctor providing abortions. And that doctor gets murdered at church every now and then so there is no abortion provider for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/72 "2013-06-20T07:14:55Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Why is it surprising that states which have all but legislated abortion clinics out of existence have low abortion rates? The abortion rate is not directly tied to the number of abortion providers there are in a state. A state can have a hundred abortion providers, but if the residents of that state are staunchly opposed to abortion, there won’t be many abortions. The abortion rate is tied to that state’s overall views of abortion, the former which sometimes tends reflects the number of abortion providers in that state. I really don’t know why this is so hard for liberals to understand. It’s why there are more abortion providers in New York than there are in Mississippi (New York is more accepting of abortion than Mississippi), why New York has a higher abortion rate than does Mississippi (you’re more likely to obtain an abortion if you find abortion morally acceptable than you are if you do not) and why there are fewer abortion providers today overall than there were thirty years ago (because society is less accepting of abortion than it was thirty years ago). You’d think this shit was rocket science or something. As it is, this really does highlight the problem with liberal thinking. You guys and gals like to point out the U.S. has a higher abortion rate than most other industrialized countries and just loooooove to blame conservatives, yet you ignore the fact that the U.S. has a high abortion rate _because_ of liberal and liberal leaning states, not because of conservative or conservative leaning states. It’d be funny, if it weren’t so sad. > [@](#): > > I have no idea what the second part of that sentence is supposed to mean. Let me try this again. As a counterargument against the fact that states which tend to be Democratic strongholds also tend to have high abortion rates ([don’t just take my word for it, which you won’t, anyway](http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/sfaa.html)), Democrats/liberals/pro-choicers constantly argue that the reason for that is because of women crossing state lines to “friendlier waters” in order to obtain an abortion. In other words, it’s those “red” state women who can’t obtain an abortion in their own state and travel across state lines which is skewing the numbers. The problem? [It isn’t true](http://kff.org/womens-health-policy/state-indicator/abortions-by-out-of-state-residents/), and most women don’t travel more than 50 miles for an abortion. Approximately 8.3% of all abortions in the U.S. are obtained by a woman who lives outside of the state she received on in. Look at that list. Nineteen states (including DC) have a greater percentage of abortions performed in state on women who lived out of state, and only six of them (including DC) can be considered liberal or liberal leaning. In fact, outside of Delaware and the DC, the states with the highest abortion rates have among the lowest percentage of their total abortions obtain by out of state residents, meaning the women who obtain abortions in those states actually live in those states. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/73 "2013-06-20T07:26:02Z")
> [@Algorithm](#): > > Assuming this is true, think really hard: why do you suppose this is the case? Because the more accepting of abortion a state is, the more abortions there will be, and the more clinics there [usually](http://prospect.org/article/geography-abortion-access) are. Shocking, I know. > [@](#): > > Cite? Not for nothing, but I’ve learned that the word “cite” around here is liberal code word for “I’m too lazy to look this up”. But I digress. [There](http://www.scribd.com/doc/110441322/Millennials-and-the-2012-Election) > [@](#): > > Cite? I’m far too lazy to go hunt down past posts, so I’ll just post the one I can think up off the top of my head. [Pew](http://www.pewforum.org/Abortion/roe-v-wade-at-40.aspx) > [@](#): > > Identical percentages of women and men (62% each) are aware that Roe dealt with abortion. **Nearly seven-in-ten Republicans (68%) answered this question correctly, compared with 63% of independents and 57% of Democrats**. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/74 "2013-06-20T07:40:10Z")
Just remember that these Republicans that do ‘better on abortion questions’ also include the ones that could not find a way out of a paper bag when the question was about abortion after rape. More specifically, how ignorant they showed to be on how a woman’s body work, knowing about a text is not enough. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/75 "2013-06-20T07:51:57Z")
Whenever a Democrat opens his/her mouth about abortion, it’s usually to cite some scientifically illiterate, pseudo philosophical defense of abortion, but no one seems to care about that. Luckily, most of the populace is scientifically illiterate, so it all works out. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/76 "2013-06-20T07:55:14Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Whenever a Democrat opens his/her mouth about abortion, it’s usually to cite some scientifically illiterate, pseudo philosophical defense of abortion, but no one seems to care about that. > > Luckily, most of the populace is scientifically illiterate, so it all works out. So, no idea even on an specific example to counteract the certifiable trash that came from now \*\*former \*\*Republican congress-critters. Not surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/77 "2013-06-20T08:21:10Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > So, no idea even on an specific example to counteract the certifiable trash that came from now \*\*former \*\*Republican congress-critters. > > Not surprised. I didn’t know I was supposed to provide a specific example. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/78 "2013-06-20T08:27:22Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > I didn’t know I was supposed to provide a specific example. Just telling us if it came from Democratic congress critters would tell us if your example is relevant at all. Not much important when the ignorance is outside government or a fringe is the example. In any case one should see if the examples are good or you are just remembering very pathetic counter examples to the certifiable trash believed by Republicans in power. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/79 "2013-06-20T09:16:23Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Whenever a Democrat opens his/her mouth about abortion, it’s usually to cite some scientifically illiterate, pseudo philosophical defense of abortion, but no one seems to care about that. > > Luckily, most of the populace is scientifically illiterate, so it all works out. I think we’ve found the funniest abortion post, guys! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317/80 "2013-06-20T15:40:09Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Some solidly Republican states have only one doctor providing abortions. And that doctor gets murdered at church every now and then so there is no abortion provider for a while. Even then, Texas, Kansas and Louisiana have higher abortion rates than Minnesota, Wisconsin or Iowa. > **[Red states and blue states](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states)** > > Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to US states whose voters vote predominantly for one party—the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in blue states—in presidential and other statewide elections. By contrast, states where the predominant vote fluctuates between Democratic and Republican candidates are known as "swing states" or "purple states". Examining patterns within states reveals that the Al... [http://jezebel.com/5731889/a-map-of-abortion-rates-by-state](http://jezebel.com/5731889/a-map-of-abortion-rates-by-state) I’d like to see an r-squared on the assertion that red/blue is correlated to a higher abortion rate . I’d also like to see the r2’d on abortions correlated to providers per capita. Also, from what I’m aware of, it isn’t uncommon for Minnesota abortion clinics to get South Dakota residents. Another interesting correlation would be to break it out by poverty in the states. And multivariate that by race. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gop-plan-to-appeal-to-millennials-make-abortion-funny/661317.md?page=5)