Feinstein mistakenly says 200,000 to 1,200,000 women died in illegal abortions decades ago

September 06, 2018
Washington

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh says a 1973 Supreme Court decision that established a constitutional right to an abortion is an “important precedent” that has “been reaffirmed many times.” (Sept. 5)
AP

Abortion rights have been at the forefront of Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings as activists on both sides of the debate believe President Donald Trump’s second Supreme Court nominee could become the deciding vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.Â

While grilling Kavanaugh about his views on abortionÂ during the second day of his Senate confirmation hearings Wednesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., misstated a study’s findings and dramatically exaggerated the number of women who are estimated to have died from illegal abortion procedures.Â

More:Â Protesters urged to disrupt Brett Kavanaugh hearings

“In the 1950s and 60s, the two decades before Roe, deaths from illegal abortions in this country ran between 200,000 and 1.2 million. Thatâ€™s according to the Guttmacher Institute,” Feinstein said.Â

Feinstein made a major error in her citation of the Guttmacher Institute’s figures from a 2003Â report. The study found that the number of illegal abortions performed annually during the 1950s and 1960s was between 200,000 and 1.2 million.

The number of deaths resulting from those procedures was about 300 in 1950 and was down to about 200 in 1965, according to the Guttmacher Institute. But the study cautions that those numbers are based on what was officially reported and that the actual number of deaths was likely much higher.Â

Feinstein spokeswoman Ashley Schapitl told USA TODAY the statistic was written incorrectly in the senator’s question.Â

“She meant to cite just the number of illegal procedures, not deaths,”Â Schapitl explained.

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A protester disrupts the proceedings as President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the second day of his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ORG XMIT: DCSA103 A protester disrupts the proceedings as President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the second day of his confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ORG XMIT: DCSA102 Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa,Â center, accompanied by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, left, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, right, speaks toward the committee Democrats. Andrew Harnik, AP Protesters inside the Hart Senate Office building as Brett Kavanaugh appears before his Senate confirmation hearing. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. holds up a copy of The Constitution of the United States as he speaks as Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge, appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, to begin his confirmation to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) ORG XMIT: DCAH128 Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing on Sept. 4, 2018 in Washington. A protester interrupts the hearing for Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Sept. 4, 2018 in Washington. A woman stands and voices her opposition to Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination for Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) ORG XMIT: DCJM101 Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is seen during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Sept. 4, 2018 in Washington. Everett Kavanaugh Jr. and Martha Kavanaugh, the parents of Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh, listen during the hearing Sen. Corey Booker (D-N.J.) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) confer during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Sept. 4, 2018 in Washington.