MALKIN CLAIMS UNDISCREDITED STATISTICS ARE DISCREDITED

YOU ARE VISITING THE OLD MALKIN(S)WATCH. THAT'S FANTASTIC. PLEASE VISIT THE NEW MALKIN(S)WATCH WHEN YOU GET A CHANCE.

Sorry. I just wanted to get into the spirit of her headline writing: KRISTOF CITES DISCREDITED ABORTION STATISTICS. Wow. Sounds definitive, doesn't it?

On the New York Times op-ed page yesterday, columnist Nicholas Kristof dredged up the debunked talking point that the number of abortions has increased since George W. Bush became President...

The notion that abortion has been rising under Bush is based on Glenn Stassen's faulty analysis of abortion trends in sixteen states.

I partially de-debunked the talking point here, and my interview with Glen Stassen is here.

As I noted in the interview, the resistance of pro-lifers to any data which might help them decrease abortions would be puzzling, if it weren't so clear. Malkin encourages people to e-mail Kristof and Okrent asking for a correction. I encourage you to e-mail them in support. Reward good behavior, as Atrios would say.

Kristof (nicholas@nytimes.com), editorial page editor Gail Collins (editorial@nytimes.com), and Times ombudsman Daniel Okrent (public@nytimes.com)