Dean's Deception

Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, may not be the best man for the Democrats as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, but he certainly is entertaining. Here is Dr. Dean on NBC's "Meet the Press" yesterday: "We'd like to make abortion rare. You know that abortions have gone up 25% since George Bush was president?" Dr. Dean went on, "There are not many of us who want to see the abortion rate continue to go up as it has under President Bush."

This is rich stuff for all of those who had to endure lectures from Democrats during the election season about how if President Bush were re-elected, he was going to take away the right to an abortion. "The right to choose is in grave danger from this president," Senator Lieberman was quoted by the New York Times as telling one abortion-rights group. "This administration has been undermining abortion rights from the day it took office."

First, the Democrats try to scare voters about Bush wanting to ban abortion. Then they complain that abortions are on the rise during the Bush administration. Talk about having it both ways. But it turns out that Dr. Dean's abortion statistics are bogus. On Thursday, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a nonpartisan but pro-choice research organization, released a study finding that "U.S. abortion rates continued to decline in 2001 and 2002."

According to the Guttmacher Institute, "The Institute estimates that 1,303,000 abortions took place in the United States in 2001 - 0.8% fewer than the 1,313,000 in 2000. In 2002, the number of abortions declined again, to 1,293,000, or another 0.8%. The rate of abortion also declined, from 21.3 procedures per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 2000 to 21.1 in 2001 and 20.9 in 2002." Those are the most recent years for which statistics are available. Asked for substantiation of Dr. Dean's claims, the Democratic National Committee pointed to an opinion piece from October in the Houston Chronicle by two left-wing activists who relied on data from only 16 of the 50 states.

Dr. Dean went on yesterday to discuss his religious faith. "I'm a committed Christian," he said. "I pray every night ... I grew up in a Christian household." Said Dr. Dean, "You either believe in the teachings of Jesus or you don't. I do." We've no objection to Dr. Dean's publicly professing his faith or injecting his faith into politics. But a Sunday morning on which the chairman of the DNC is avowing his Christianity while attacking Mr. Bush for the purported rise in abortions during his presidency is one that reinforces our sense that the reason the country's center is moving rightward is that the Democrats are intellectually bankrupt.