US abortion restrictions represent ‘declining democracy’, WaPo correspondent claims before being skewered

On Friday, Washington Post National Correspondent Philip Bump was teased for his analytical piece titled “Reducing Abortion Access Is Consistent With Declining Democracy.”

In the article, Bump argued that the United States’ restriction of abortion rights with Friday’s Supreme Court ruling puts it in league with two other not-so-democratic countries that have restricted the right to abortion and have tended towards authoritarianism in recent years.

The insinuation is that the Court’s decision, in addition to other alleged authoritarian moves, such as the election of former President Trump, places the United States among the dregs of the world. Although critics on Twitter called the argument misleading, “the dumbest article” they’ve read today, and proof that Bump “isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed “.

Bump began his article by stating that many countries were rolling back abortion restrictions.

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“The trend over the past 25 years has been fairly stable: many abortion-banning countries have either slightly or substantially relaxed these laws. Places like Nepal, Ireland, and Colombia have relaxed abortion bans since the turn of the century, as have dozens of other countries.”

Washington Post writer Philip Bump argued that America’s restriction of access to abortion means it is losing democracy.
(Stock)

He added that most countries did not change them at all, except for two, and pointed out that the United States had now joined this minority with its reversal Roe v. Wade.

“Most countries, of course, don’t have [affect] no change between 2000 and the beginning of this year. Two, Nicaragua and Poland, have reduced access to abortion,” Bump wrote. He added: “On Friday, the United States joined them. The Supreme Court decision in Dobbs. v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization reversed its decision in Roe v. Wade, allowing states to completely ban abortion.

Bump then claimed that these three countries had moved away from “liberal democracy” shortly before their abortion restrictions. “But it should be noted – especially given broader international trends – that Poland, Nicaragua and the United States had all moved significantly away from liberal democracy before abortion bans were extended.”

Bump cited a research group called “The Varieties of Democracy project”, which allegedly “evaluates leadership and decision-making in countries on dozens of parameters”, showing that each of these three countries has had a “consistent pattern of increasing illiberalism.

Bump cited other experts who pointed to the United States’ “attacks on women’s rights” and Trump’s election as links to “authoritarianism.” He claimed: “But we can say that the other countries in which access to abortion has been reduced over the last 20 years are those where democracy was in decline.”

However, conservatives on Twitter weren’t buying it, saying the argument was grossly flawed and proof of Bump’s lack of intelligence.

NewsBusters editor Curtis Houck blasted Bump, tweeting, “Bump isn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.”

Houck also shared a tweet from the popular conservative account @AGhamilton29, which blew huge holes in Bump’s claims. “It ignores the baseline where the United States is an extreme exception among first world countries. And one of the other 2 countries used to show a model (Poland) liberalized abortion under an anti communist regime. -democrat.”

A pro-abortion protester stands out in front of the United States Supreme Court.

AG added: “He literally tried to create a model from 2 non-US countries and an honest assessment of 1 of the 2 would lead to the exact opposite conclusion on the correlation.”

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National Review Washington correspondent John McCormack made this argument, tweeting: “One of the three countries mentioned here is Poland. Under communism, a permissive abortion law was imposed on Poland in 1956. After Poland was liberated, it banned abortion in 1993. These facts are not mentioned in this article.”

Federalist editor David Harsanyi tweeted: “This may be the dumbest article I’ve read today – and no small feat. democracy.'”

“For the left, ‘democracy’ is just a euphemism for ‘the policies I want’,” he said, and also called the article “dishonest.”

Anti-abortion activists hold signs outside the United States Supreme Court following the overturning of Roe Vs. Wade, in Washington, DC, June 24, 2022.
(STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Democracy is when abortion,” Washington Examiner reporter Jerry Dunleavy tweeted, mocking the article.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla. Spokeswoman Christina Pushaw sarcastically tweeted, “China funded abortion up to 9 months, it’s a famously vibrant democracy, maybe you should move there .”