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Abortion rate - someone at the DM can't do maths

31 replies

ForkInTheForeheid · 19/01/2012 17:55

Nearly a third of pregnancies in Europe end in termination

Oh dear. (That would be 3% I believe).

OP posts:
charitygirl · 24/01/2012 16:38

Whether or not they got it right, what's the actual story? 'Unwanted pregnancies get aborted'? Big woo.

SardineQueen · 24/01/2012 16:46

I didn't understand the point of the story either. It talked about unsafe abortions - which was a shocking figure and the thing that interested me - but there was no further information or comment Confused

Tenebrist · 24/01/2012 17:22

It's particularly relevant today given that one of the witnesses at the Leveson enquiry worked on behalf of established scientists to try to increase the accuracy of science reporting in the press. She quoted some appalling examples of the press just interpreting scientific data/findings completely wrong.

It is also perhaps an indication that the school maths syllabus should include a section on interpreting statistics in practice - which would be useful for journalists and readers.

DaisySteiner · 24/01/2012 17:26

The Lancet article states that 1 in 5 pregnancies ended in abortion in 2008. Don't know where the 1/3 statistic from DM comes from.

BartletForAmerica · 24/01/2012 18:32

kelly, I am right. Abortion just means the end of a pregnancy technically, so a termination is an induced abortion and a miscarriage is not necessarily a 'spontaneous' abortion but you won't find anyone in hospitals nowadays calling a miscarriage an incomplete/spontaneous/missed abortion, although that what might be historically in the medical notes.

BartletForAmerica · 24/01/2012 18:32

Great article in the Guardian from a few years ago about science writing:

www.guardian.co.uk/science/the-lay-scientist/2010/sep/24/1

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