BREAKING! Laws don't stop abortions.

To quote Gomer Pyle, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"

Women are just as likely to get an abortion in countries where it is outlawed as they are in countries where it is legal, according to research published Friday.

This according to a story by Maria Cheng, AP Medical Writer.

In a study examining abortion trends from 1995 to 2003, experts also found that abortion rates are virtually equal in rich and poor countries, and that half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe.

The study was done by Gilda Sedgh of the Guttmacher Institute in the United States and colleagues from the World Health Organization. It was published in an edition of The Lancet medical journal devoted to maternal health.

More after the flip...

It's what pro-choice activists have been saying for decades. The only way to reduce the number of abortions is to reduce the need for abortions.

But here's the kicker:

In related papers published in The Lancet this week, experts said there has been little improvement in helping women survive pregnancy and childbirth in the last two decades, particularly in the world's poorest countries.

Simply unbelievable. It boggles the mind. So we have a new question to add to my line-up for so-called "pro-life" moralizing gasbags. In addition to:

1. How many children have you fostered or adopted?

2. How many pregnant women for whom abortion is not a moral option have you supported and/or taken into your home?

3. What punishment do you propose for women who have abortions when it's illegal?

We can now add:

4. What have you done to improve pregnancy survival in the developing world?

Please read this story.

Final pull:

Abortion accounts for 13 percent of maternal mortality worldwide. About 70,000 women die every year from unsafe abortions. An additional 5 million women suffer permanent or temporary injury.
...
The number of worldwide abortions has dipped from about 46 million in 1995 to just under 42 million in 2003. But there was no change in the rate of unsafe abortions; nearly half the procedures are still performed illegally in potentially dangerous conditions.

I know this is what we've known for decades. But it still makes me angry.