Life Links 7/30/09

The various media outlets, including the New York Times, are reporting on the news that the official number of abortions a year in China is 13 million. The official number may be much lower than the actual number of Chinese abortions.

When unreported and medication-induced abortions are counted, the actual number is substantially higher, according to physicians and medical researchers quoted by the state-run newspaper China Daily on Thursday.....

Wu Shangchun, a research official with the National Population and Family Planning Commission, told China Daily that about 10 million abortion-inducing pills are sold annually in China.

National Right to Life’s Douglas Johnson replies to William Saletan’s essay which calls any prolifer opposed to Tim Ryan’s and Rosa DeLauro’s “Preventing Unintended Pregnancies, Reducing the Need for Abortion, and Supporting Parents Act” a “militant.”

I wonder why the bill couldn’t have included a clause which prevented contraceptive funds from going towards abortion providers. If the real goal is to lower the number of abortions, why not make sure the funding goes to organizations whose income isn’t tied to how many abortions they provide?


Instapundit asks a good question and Jonathan Adler answers. From Adler’s thoughts about whether Congress could pass a tax on abortions:

My own view is that, under current law, a tax targeted at abortions would be difficult to sustain. Under Casey, states may not impose regulations that place an "undue burden" on a woman's constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy. A law creates an "undue burden" where it has "the purpose or effect of placing a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion of a nonviable fetus." Any abortion tax large enough to raise a meaningful amount of revenue would likely increase the cost of abortions sufficiently to constitute an "undue burden" under this test.

I think the short answer would be: Yes, if Justice Kennedy doesn’t think an abortion tax would be an undue burden.


Police in New Hampshire have found a child who was cut from her mother’s womb. The child is apparently in good condition after her mother was killed.

Haynes was eight months pregnant. Her body was found by her landlord, William Thompson, who said a "horrifying smell" led him to her apartment, where he found her body wrapped in bedding in a closet. Her death was ruled a homicide.

The exact cause of Haynes' death has yet to be determined pending toxicology tests, but Worcester said the autopsy indicated Haynes suffered head injuries.

There’s more information in a Boston Globe article.