A number of readers send similar e-mails to this one: “Ehrenreich claims that 30 million equals 40% of American women, implying that there are 75 million women in America. She must be using some particular age range such as child bearing age since there are approximately 150 millions females of all ages in America. Perhaps that 75 million figure is roughly accurate at the moment, but those 30 million abortions have been spread out over 31 years, in which time period far more than 75 million women have been of child bearing age at some point. The 30 million figure thus does not equate to 40% of American women having at least one abortion or anywhere near it. The true number is probably closer to 20%-25%.

So already her mathematical quandary has disappeared, but even if it were still in place, her conclusion makes no sense. Let’s say that 40% of American adults admitted to having engaged in bullying and taunting other kids in junior high, yet over 90% of adults expressed disapproval of bullying. Is this hypocrisy, or just maturity? A large number of “women” who have abortions are minors, some even pre-teens. Just because a young girl with a child’s shaky grasp on biology has an abortion at 14 because her older boyfriend doesn’t want to be caught out doesn’t mean she can’t come to feel differently about abortion when she’s 30 and she has seen ultrasounds and learned about fetal development, etc.”