Philadelphia, Pa., May 26, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The claim that abortions have increased under the presidency of George W. Bush is untrue and based on selective research and an erroneous interpretation of statistics, says a new report by FactCheck. In fact, the report says, the claim was proven wrong by a pro-abortion research organization.
FactCheck belongs to the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. In a recent article, the organization traces how an opinion piece by Glen Harold Stassen, an ethics professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, published in Sojourners in October 2004, has led to this widespread misperception that has been promoted by abortion advocates.
The article also traces how several media outlets and Democrats picked up this incorrect information, in particular Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator John Kerry during the presidential campaign, to argue that Bush’s policies have been ineffective.
“Given the trends of the 1990s, 52,000 more abortions occurred in the United States in 2002 than would have been expected before this change of direction,” Stassen claimed.