At best, this is Guttmacher trying to further the false narrative that IUDs and Planned Parenthood are finally beating the tide of unintended pregnancies. At worst, this is Guttmacher trying to cover for PPFA, whose ascendancy corresponded with worse outcomes for the women it claims to serve.
Whatever the motivation, the media picked up the Guttmacher press release and ran with it, running stories claiming IUDs stopped an unstoppable trend….
The truth is that unintended pregnancy rates were falling until the mid-’90s and then they suddenly shot up. Why did they shoot up? If IUDs are so great, why was the unintended pregnancy rate lower in the early ’90s, before IUDs were as widely used? If Planned Parenthood is so great, why was the unintended pregnancy rate lower in the early ’90s, before Planned Parenthood tripled its market share?
Guttmacher has put its need to protect Planned Parenthood and the “stories” the Left tells us about family planning above the truth. You can’t just delete a data point if it doesn’t fit your narrative. The pro-choice Left does this regularly, with statistics, history—a lot of things. There are lies, damned lies, and Guttmacher’s statistics.
~ Willis L. Krumholz, discussing new evidence that shows how Guttmacher has “hid[den] data to bolster claims that Planned Parenthood and IUDs are reducing unintended births among poor women,” The Federalist, April 12
