Jill Stanek asked an interesting question over the weekend.

Why Is Abortion Googled More in Pro-Life States?

This question comes from a Boston Herald article that reports on a recent study that found that “abortion” was Googled more frequently in states with conservative abortion policies than in states with easier access to abortion.

The problem is that the doctors who conducted the study were not content to simply report facts. They needed a reason. And without one they could prove, they opted for conjecture. Conjecture that supports their pro-legalized-abortion agenda, of course.

“In places where abortion access is readily available, people can go to their mainstream health care providers,” Reis suggested. In areas with more abortion searches, he said, “people may be going on the Internet to find alternate routes.”

He said the pattern was found in every state and country studied.

“We were actually very surprised. There is a very consistent, strong relationship,” Reis said.

Of course! People in pro-life states are researching abortion online so that they can figure out how to perform one on themselves! That’s the most logical explanation.

Or maybe not.

Maybe … as commenters on Jill Stanek’s post are quick to point out, people research “abortion” as a means of keeping up with important news, learning about our nation’s laws, or educating themselves about fetal development.

In my Google account, I have a news page set to the keyword “abortion.” And it’s not because I am desperately trying to figure out how I can get myself one.

To me, this “study” and the doctor’s conjecture sound desperate. They need to keep coming up with ways to frighten people into believing we are a hair’s-breadth away from coat hangers and back alley abortions in which innocent pregnant women imperil their own lives in their determination to destroy their unborn children.

Come on. Give us more credit than that.

(cross-posted at the National Catholic Register)

What a thrill to be here!

I was honored to be asked to blog here during Elizabeth’s exciting trip to Rome. When she emailed about it, I figured this was about as close to actually taking a trip to Rome as I am likely to get in the foreseeable future, and I was not about to turn it down.

Besides, who can resist a chance to be The Anchoress? Or at least play pretend.

Even if I have to share this spot with those two other ladies (love you guys!) and even if the Real Anchoress might pop in here now and then to blog exotic European things that will make my latest entries appear embarrassingly quotidian, I have already instructed my kids (and husband too, but I have less control over him) to address me properly for the next two weeks:

Madame Anchoress it shall be.

Not to worry, though, none of this is going to my head.

Even if I am playing Madame Anchoress, these late days of summer will find me knee-deep in the somewhat less than glamorous life of a homeschooling mom of eight kids who is also crazy enough to attempt to work from her home.

I will be poring over lesson plans, typing emails at midnight, scrubbing sticky pasta pots, and searching in vain for the box of bandaids. I will be perilously parking my 12-passenger van, shooing black bears away from our chicken coop, and occasionally saying things like “You are going to eat that. I don’t care who licked it,” “Tell me those tiny bits of paper under the table are not the plumber’s cell phone number” and “Whoever swats that fly gets a pack of gum.”

All glamour, all the time.

All of this to say, I am thrilled to be blogging here with you. I will cross -posting some stuff from my other cyber-spots and, since that feels like cheating, adding a bit of fresh content here too. It is my hope that you and I will have some fruitful conversations and maybe even a little bit of fun during the Real Anchoress’s absence.

After all, we can’t all be in Rome, can we?