AVOIDING THE CENTRIST ABORTION REGULATION TRAP. As a follow-up to Dana's post below, it's worth noting that there's no way of writing prohibitions on particular forms of abortion into an enforceable legislative enactment. Attempt to use cries of "eugenics" notwithstanding, the real choice remains stark: you can trust women, or you can trust affluent women while forcing poor ones to get unsafe abortions. That's it; there's no third "women can only get abortions that the Washington Post editorial board thinks are appropriate" option. And if anyone has any evidence that women in countries where abortion is legal and safe get abortions for "worse" reasons than countries where abortion is formally banned, I'd sure like to see it. (They certainly don't get fewer abortions under the anti-choicers' preferred model.) Also, any discussion of the subject should include this post from Michael Berube. --Scott Lemieux
