It was billed as a groundbreaking press conference last week by Merle Hoffman, founder and owner of one of the first and largest abortion clinics in the United States and author of Intimate Wars: The Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Boardroom, which oddly enough is being published this month by Feminist Press.

It was billed as revealing the results of a study on the impact the recession was having on the number of abortions being performed.

It was billed with the catchy title of “”ABORTIONOMICS: When Choice is a Necessity: the Impact of Recession on Abortion Rates.”

What it was, however, was a complete fraud.

Hoffman, who runs an abortion clinic that services more than 50,000 women per year told the press that she would discuss report data that show birth rates falling, demand for contraceptive services rising, and abortions increasing, especially among low-income women because of the recession.

As you might imagine, this is exactly the kind of story that the media loves.

But even Dana Milbank reported that the “study” was a complete fraud:

There was just one problem with this hysteria: The data in the study she presented were from 2008 — before the impact of the recession was felt. The sweeping conclusions came, rather, from “journalistic reports,” as well as “seminal studies” (no pun intended, apparently) at Hoffman’s own clinic in New York — where, as she eventually admitted, abortion rates were “relatively stable” the last two years.

Hmmm. I wonder if her holding this press conference had anything to do with her book coming out?

But should anyone be surprised at this? That’s what these folks do. They lie. They lie about killing. They lie that unless they’re given federal funding they won’t be able to kill as efficiently as they might and then women will get hurt.

I’m just wondering, if the number of abortions are climbing so steadily (skyrocketing even!) because of the poor economy, why is it that they so desperately require taxpayer money to stay afloat?