President Obama is the most anti-abortion gubernatorial candidate in the runoff.
That is, if President Obama were running to be Louisiana’s next governor.
Both U.S. Sen. David Vitter and state Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, are busy fighting over who is the purest anti-abortion candidate. They are both wrong and: President Obama is miles ahead of both of them.
No candidate has done more to decrease the abortion rate than Obama because he supports greater access to health insurance and contraception.
According to a 2014 Guttmacher Institute report, under Obama’s leadership, the abortion rate in the United States dropped to its lowest point in 2014 since 1973, the year when abortion was legalized.
This finding is not an outlier. A 2015 Associated Press poll found abortions dropped by 12 percent nationwide since 2010.
Access to contraception remains the best way to reduce the abortion rate. A 2012 Washington University School of Medicine study found abortion rates decline up to as much as 75 percent when contraceptives are made available to women free of charge.
The study drew from 9,000 St. Louis, Missouri, women, many of whom were uninsured, and covered the costs of contraception for them. Once the cost of contraception was removed as a barrier, many women opted to use an intrauterine device, which are relatively expensive and among the most effective contraceptive methods to prevent pregnancy.
The abortion rate is at its lowest point since the procedure became legal because the Affordable Care Act increased access to birth control. Under the ACA, insurance companies are required to cover contraceptives, a provision opposed by many anti-abortion groups.
Because contraception became easier to access for many women, the usage rate increased in recent years. According to the Guttmacher Institute, the proportion of women using “the most effective methods has increased,” including a 12 percent jump in the use of long-acting, reversible contraception methods.
This 12 percent jump in the use of LARC methods is the highest amount recorded in the United States.
Anti-abortion activists may argue the reason the abortion rates declined is because of the passage of stricter abortion laws. But the only two states to report an increase in the abortion rate in the 2015 Associated Press poll were Michigan and Louisiana, two states that have passed numerous abortion restrictions in recent years.
The ACA made it possible for many Americans to have better access to contraception through their health insurance. Thanks, Obama.
Economic reasons are another major factor in a woman’s decision to have an abortion.
A 2004 Guttmacher Institute study found 74 percent of women chose to have an abortion because “having a child would interfere with a woman’s education, work or ability to care for dependents.” Seventy-three percent of women in the study said they couldn’t afford a baby now and opted for an abortion.
Under Obama, the unemployment rate is 5.5 percent. Last year, the president boasted the best year for employment growth in 15 years.
If you actually care about reducing the abortion rate, then you should love Obama. With his incredible record on abortion, it really is a mystery why more anti-abortion advocates aren’t vibing with the president.
Michael Beyer is a 21-year-old political science senior from New Orleans. You can reach him on Twitter @michbeyer.