# You, sir. Yes, you! Are a partisan asshole. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 6, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780 "2011-08-06T23:10:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 242
**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:** [August 15, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780/242 "2011-08-15T18:40:15Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Why would you assume I was reading quotes from abortion doctors? Because, generally speaking, that’s what abortion supporters rely on to make their case, since there are quite a few (many, actually) women who would flatly tell you that they feel no remorse over their abortion, don’t regret it and pretty much didn’t bat an eyelash. In fact, as Guttmacher points out, “after an abortion, women frequently report feeling relief and happiness”. Of course, that doesn’t fit into the whole rhetoric so… > [@](#): > > I wasn’t suggesting they were lying. I was suggesting that your assertion that “often” the “first choice” for contraception is abortion is not supported by what some people on the internet have written. I was being facetious on the lying bit. Anyway, ignoring the fact that legalized abortion mitigates contraceptive use, just look at data from [Guttmacher](http://www.guttmacher.org/tables/3429402t.html#t1). Right off the bat, approximately 46.3% of women who have abortion use **no contraceptive method whatsoever**. Of the remaining women who were using contraceptives when they became pregnant, 13.6% of them were using the pill, 27.6% of them were using the male condom and 7.3% of them were using the withdrawal method (those are the three most popular methods). Of course, it’s important to note that 53.7% of women who obtain abortion don’t become pregnant despite using contraceptives. In fact, a large portion of that 53.7% weren’t using contraceptives at the time they became pregnant. For example, for pill users 75.9% reported inconsistent use at the time they got pregnant: -45.1% simply forgot to take pills -15.9% were away from home and didn’t have pills, though they had sex anyway -10.3% ran out of supplies -7.7% were sick -2.1% didn’t think they would have sex again, but they did -1.6% didn’t feel like taking pills -0.3% reported their partner didn’t want them to take any pill -0.2% thought they might have wanted to get pregnant -3.6% report some other, undisclosed reason For condom users 49.3% reported inconsistent use at the time they got pregnant: -20.4% didn’t use because they didn’t think they’d get pregnant -14.3% didn’t have one but had sex anyway -12.8% didn’t expect to have sex, though that didn’t stop them -7.1% simply forgot about it -5.6% didn’t feel like using one -3.5% reported their partner didn’t feel like using one -1.0% reported that their partner was supposed to bring one, though they still had sex -1.0% said their partner wanted me to get pregnant -0.5% were forced to have sex -0.5% thought they wanted to get pregnant -0.5% didn’t care if they got pregnant Now even granting you the 45.1% of women forgetting to take the pill (we’ll chalk that up to simple human error) and the 7.7% who was sick (as sometimes taking other medicine can interfere with the pill), I think it’s safe to say that approximately 22.9% of pill users and 46.8% of condom users weren’t exactly using the aforementioned methods as their primary form of contraception, **since they weren’t using them at the time they got pregnant**. If you add them to the other 46.3% of women who obtain an abortion when they weren’t using any type of contraceptives at all, you’d find that to add up to over half of all abortion cases. Good luck explaining that. > [@](#): > > I’ve got just as much evidence of women saying that it was a difficult, worrying decision as you do that it isn’t. You’re going to be hard pressed to argue this. Consider this. The repeat abortion rate has gone from about 15% in 1975 or so to 48% today. Further broken down, you’d find that approximately 29% of women who obtain abortions for that year are getting their second one, 12% are getting their third one and 7% are getting their fourth or higher one. How do you explain that as anything other than woman using abortion as a form of birth control? Let’s be frank; exactly how serious do you think women are treating abortion when they have two, three, four , five-- sometimes even fifteen abortions (because they’re [an abortion addict](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220095/American-abortion-addict-15-terminations-17-years-publishes-memoir.html#))-- in their lifetimes? How exactly are women treating abortion as a difficult decision, when the majority of women to have abortions weren’t even using contraceptives to prevent themselves from having to make that decision in the first place? If having an abortion is such a hard decision, then why is a woman less apt to try to prevent a situation when she might need an abortion from occurring the more accessible an abortion is for her? You don’t see the disconnect there? > [@](#): > > I’m sure many do. What I am disputing is that this is a significant percentage of the women who have abortions, which is what you’re asserting. Indeed it is. High rates of repeat abortions and most women obtaining an abortion when they weren’t using any contraceptives at the time gives a lot of credence to my assertion. > [@](#): > > That doesn’t mean that a D&C is something one takes lightly. It’s still an invasive surgical procedure. I mean, I can get fillings (and if I get a cavity I will) but that doesn’t mean it’s my first choice for dental hygiene care. If you do nothing to protect your teeth, one could indeed infer that. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, I cheerfully invite you to compose your own words at length, but the words you end up saying are of course subject to analysis and questioning. I’m confident I haven’t put words into your mouth simply by questioning what words YOU put into your mouth. I do, but then you typically construct a straw man. > [@](#): > > Okay, I’ll ask flat out - do you care why a woman seeks an abortion and, if the answer is yes, why do you care why? Sure I care, but that’s not what’s being discussed here. > [@](#): > > In a more general sense, I figure the “partisan asshole” thing comes from believing and behaving as though people with different viewpoints didn’t reach those viewpoints becasue they hold different opinions or grew up under different circumstances, but because they are evil and/or the people who taught them are evil. I’ve no doubt on some issues, I personally qualify, as do numerous posters here (for some reason, Der Trihs and Diogenes the Cynic come quickest to mind, possibly because I agree with them on many issues but just can’t go full-retard the way they do). When it comes to the abortion issue specifically, I figure partisan assholery takes one of two forms, the relevant one here being “women get abortions because they are stupid selfish short-sighted sluts.” …And speaking of straw men… Those are your words, not mine. I’m just pointing out that legalized abortion is met with a change in behavior, that change being that: (1) Women are more likely to engage in “risky” sex (which leads to higher STD and pregnancy rates) and (2) Women are less apt to use contraceptives, instead relying on abortion, than they otherwise would be in the absence of legal abortion. You don’t have to like it, and you can set up as many straw men as you like, but facts are facts and they’re not going to go away no matter how much you dislike them. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-sir-yes-you-are-a-partisan-asshole/591780)._