In the Same Way that Baghdad is Safer Than L.A.

Via B.A.B. (who, alas, is not going to see an end to “women’s bodies being the playing field for election-year politicking” anytime soon), I see that George Bush has offered a peculiar justification for the awful new legislation that passed the Senate yesterday:

In a statement, Mr. Bush said that “transporting minors across state lines to bypass parental consent laws regarding abortion undermines state law and jeopardizes the lives of young women.

Er, sadly, no:

The risk of abortion complications is minimal when the procedure is performed by a trained professional in a hygienic setting: Fewer than 1% of all U.S. abortion patients experience a major complication. The risk of death associated with abortion in the U.S. is less than 0.6 per 100,000 procedures, which is less than one-tenth as large as the risk associated with childbirth.

But, in fairness, if Bush and the forced pregnancy lobby get their way, the gap will be narrower:

However, 68,000 women in countries where abortion is illegal die each year of abortion complications, and many times this number are injured by unsafe procedures.

Even by the high standards of illogic observed by anti-choicers, trying to sell these kinds of abortion restrictions as public health regulations are profoundly embarrassing lies.