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Doctors see economic impact on abortion, birth control

"This was a desired pregnancy — she'd been getting prenatal care — but they re-evaluated expenses and decided not to continue," said Dr. Pratima Gupta. "When I was doing the options counseling, she interrupted me halfway through, crying, and said, 'Dr. Gupta, I just walked here for an hour. I'm sure of my decision."'

This is happening in the greatest nation on earth? h/t Oliver.

What Sells in a Recession: Canned Goods and Condoms

Makes sense to me.

What's the last thing people want in a recession? More kids, apparently. According to data-tracking firm the Nielsen Co., dollar sales of products in the "family planning" category, which include condoms and over-the-counter female contraceptives, were up 10.2% for the first two months of this year. Unit sales were up 1.5%, which indicates that consumers are willing to pay higher prices today to prevent crib expenses tomorrow.

(snip)

So what's outperforming on the shelves? A catch-all category called "seasonal general merchandise," which contains thawing salt, body warmers and gift packages with candy, was tops, with a 32% rise. Analysts explain this jump by pointing to the unusually cold and snowy winter, plus the folks who traded down their Valentine's Day purchases from fancy dinners and jewelry to smaller-ticket gift packages. Unit sales for canning and freezing supplies like jars, bags and containers were up 11.5% during the eight weeks ending on Feb. 21, making them the second best-performing category on Nielsen's list. This suggests that consumers are trying to increase the shelf life of their food purchases so they don't have to head back to the store.

Family planning stops more than 800,000 abortions

Holy crap. That means in the eight years GWB jacked around with "abstinence only" bull, there were millions of abortions that could have been prevented.

NEW YORK -- Publicly funded family planning prevents nearly 2 million unintended pregnancies and more than 800,000 abortions in the United States each year, according to new research intended to counter conservative objections to expanding the program.

The data is in a report being released today by the Guttmacher Institute, a think tank whose research is generally respected even by activists who don't share its advocacy of abortion rights.

Report co-author Rachel Benson Gold called the family planning program "smart government at its best," asserting that every dollar spent on it saves taxpayers $4.

VIDEO-- Chris Matthews on family planning measure in stimulus bill: "It sounds a little like China"

By GottaLaff

Want to get Paddy steaming mad? Play her this video.

She ranted, justifiably, on the phone to me earlier about this Tweety moment of typically beef-brained verbal flatulence, and I hadn't seen it yet. Now that I have, I may have to call her and rant back.