Hillary Clinton blames right wingers for abortion. The Senator and former first lady is putting forth another "vast right-wing conspiracy" theory. She now claims that right-wing "ideologues" -- who generally oppose abortion -- are responsible for it. How? Here is the Newsmax article:

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/5/17/231039.shtml

2008 White House hopeful Hillary Clinton is blaming right wing "ideologues" for denying women access to contraceptives - leaving them no choice but to end their unwanted pregnancies with abortion.

The move to withhold contraceptives "was started by a small group of extreme ideologues who claim the right to impose their personal beliefs on the overwhelming majority of the American people," Clinton declared in an e-mail to supporters on Wednesday.

"They're waging this silent war on contraception by using the power of the White House and their right-wing allies in Congress," she complains, adding, "and so far, they're getting away with it."

So just how are these right wing ideologues driving up the abortion rate? Clinton explains:

"Low-income women, denied access to contraception, are having more unwanted pregnancies - four times as many as those for higher income women. And almost half of all unwanted pregnancies end in abortions."

The former first lady didn't explain, however, why - in places like New York City, where high school nurses' offices distribute candy-flavored condoms - the abortion rate continues to soar.

And I would love to hear her explanation for that! Hillary's e-mail reminds me of inane statements that were made by Joycelyn Elders, who was the first Surgeon General of the Clinton administration. Elders, who once proudly called herself the "condom queen", once claimed (with a straight face) that "condoms are not readily available" to the public. Excuse me? Has the woman ever set foot in a drugstore? How can liberals say that anyone is "denied access" to contraceptives? And as for the "low-income women" part of Hillary's message -- what exactly is she saying? That low-income women have an entitlement to receive free contraceptives paid for by taxpayers?

Anyway, getting back to the article:

The former first lady didn't explain, however, why - in places like New York City, where high school nurses' offices distribute candy-flavored condoms - the abortion rate continues to soar.

In January, for instance, the New York Daily News reported:

"For every 100 babies born in New York City, women had 74 abortions in 2004, according to newly released figures that reaffirm the city as the abortion capital of the country ... That means 40 out of 100 pregnancies in the city ended in a planned abortion - almost double the national average of 24 of 100 pregnancies in 2002."

Those numbers are sickening. Hillary's husband Bill once promised the country that abortion would be "safe, legal, and rare". Well, that's one out of three. Abortion is obviously still legal, but I would hardly describe it as "safe", certainly not for the baby being aborted, and arguably not for the would-be mother, either. Abortions (especially the partial-birth variety) involve numerous health hazards, including potential damage to the woman's birth canal.

And the figures reported above indicate that abortion is certainly not "rare". Even when you get beyond the shocking New York City numbers (40 out of 100 pregnancies?), the national average of 24 out of 100 pregnancies ending in abortions is truly devastating. That means that nearly one-fourth of America's future population is being brutally murdered before the fact.