I have to thank Mark Maynard for finding this article - it's probably the Bush Administration's best kept secret.

But to begin this post, I first have to admit that I was wrong, I assumed that everything has fallen into the red since Bush has taken office, the budget of course, jobs have disappeared, massive cuts in educations grants and funding... so on. But there is something that has gone up statistically speaking: the number of abortions.

Here's a handful of excerpts from the article [which you can read in it's entirety here]

Abortion was decreasing. When President Bush took office, the nation's abortion rates were at a 24-year low, after a 17.4 percent decline during the 1990s. This was a steady decrease averaging 1.7 percent per year. (The data come from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life using the Guttmacher Institute's studies.)

Under Bush, the decade-long trend of declining abortion rates appears to have reversed. 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.

We found four states that have posted three-year statistics: Kentucky's increased by 3.2 percent from 2000 to 2003. Michigan's increased by 11.3 percent from 2000 to 2003. Pennsylvania's increased by 1.9 percent from 1999 to 2002. Colorado's rates skyrocketed 111 percent. We found 12 additional states that reported statistics for 2001 and 2002. Eight states saw an increase in abortion rates (14.6 percent average increase), and four saw a decrease (4.3 percent average).

For anyone familiar with why most women have abortions, this is no surprise: Two-thirds of women who have abortions cite "inability to afford a child" as their primary reason (Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life). In the Bush presidency, unemployment rates increased half again. Not since Herbert Hoover had there been a net loss of jobs during a presidency until the current administration. Average real incomes decreased, and for seven years the minimum wage has not been raised to match inflation. With less income, many prospective mothers fear another mouth to feed.

Women worry about health care for themselves and their children. Since 5.2 million more people have no health insurance now than before this presidency -- with women of childbearing age overrepresented in those 5.2 million -- abortion increases.

What does this tell us? Economic policy and abortion are not separate issues; they form one moral imperative. Rhetoric is hollow, mere tinkling brass, without health care, insurance, jobs, child care and a living wage. Pro-life in deed, not merely in word, means we need a president who will do something about jobs, health insurance and support for mothers.

So, hopefully everyone took the time to read the above clippings, they are ironic - if you ask me. But something I want to add, regardless of these facts; The president is looking to constitutionally ban abortions, his hope is that by taking away a woman's right to choose, he'll be saving lives in the end. But the truth of the matter is, if a woman is serious about not keeping her child, then that's it, the decision has been made, and there are other ways in which to get an abortion or have a miscarriage, but they are anything but safe.

note: apparently it is necessary for me to clarify that the above post is heavy with sarcasm. The topic and statistics are mind-blowing to me, they are frustrating... I take that back, they are infuriating, saddening, terrible, and a sick reality. But in the article's defense - they are a dark secret that needs to be brought out into the light - and something that has to be helped immediately. Okay... hopefully that helped clear things up a bit. End of note.