New interactive map visualizes New York City’s shocking abortion stats

The Chiaroscuro Foundation, which has been working to raise awareness of New York City’s shocking abortion rate (nearly double the national average), just released a new interactive map where you can see by zip code the ratio of abortions to live births from 2000-2009 in the five boroughs of New York.

They’ve compiled the data to encourage New Yorkers to join their local efforts to reduce the abortion rate, according to their press release.

Greg Pfundstein, the executive director of the Chiaroscuro Foundation, explains how this new data reveals what Roe v. Wade has actually meant for women and the unborn in America’s most populous city:

New York City’s abortion regime is America’s abortion regime: What is emanating from the penumbras of the Constitution is the fact that in parts of Jamaica, Queens, over the last ten years, six out of every ten women with a viable pregnancy procured an abortion. –National Review’s The Corner Blog

As Pfundstein points out, this is not what Americans want:

Fifty-nine percent of Americans believe that abortion should either be illegal in all circumstances (21 percent) or legal in only a few circumstances (38 percent), according to a 2011 Gallup poll. Only 26 percent of Americans believe that abortion should be legal in all circumstances, as it is in New York.

… Yes, 52 percent of pro-choice Americans think abortion should be illegal after twelve weeks. Notice how different the reality on the ground in New York under Roe v. Wade is from the way the majority of all Americans, including the majority of pro-choice Americans, think it should be.

Sadly, as the Chiaroscuro Foundation’s map demonstrates in painstaking detail, things are very different in reality. My mother’s family came from Brooklyn, and I was saddened to see that Brooklyn has some of the highest abortion rates in the entire city – and it’s not getting any better.

Becky Marchinda reflects on what these statistics mean to her, as someone who has lived in New York.

In addition to offering the map, the Chiaroscuro Foundation’s website (www.nyc41percent.com) offers a “What We Can Do” section offering ways to begin working together to bring down New York City’s horrendous abortion rate. One way we can all immediately help is to spread the word. Our thanks to the Chiaroscuro Foundation for making it easier for us to do that.