Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkWizard12  A government can always just outlaw abortion, and promote safe sex at the same time. |
That government would have to an outlier as the authors show that typically does not occur. Consider the following comment in the paper:
These facts underline an important concept: in most countries a law that forbids abortion does not, per se, decrease the number of women who resort to the procedure to stop an unwanted pregnancy. Such laws, however, have two important negative consequences. The first is an adverse effect on the reproductive health of women: illegal abortions are often unsafe and the consequences can be seen in increased rates of morbidity related to pregnancy, in higher secondary infertility and mortality among pregnant women . The second negative consequence is the very clear tendency, evident everywhere, that, because abortion is illegal, nothing is done to actively reduce its incidence, or, rather, to reduce the reasons leading to the need for terminating a pregnancy
We do not have evidence that restrictive laws actually reduce abortion. Your reference to enforcement is of course important. Simply put, the illegal abortion market will always flourish. We do have evidence, however, that restrictive laws do lead to increased problems with mortality and morbidity. If reducing abortion is the aim, it is therefore rather difficult to support the restrictive regime