With wall-to-wall coverage for days of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's oily attempts to sidestep one of the most sensitive issues in his confirmation fight - whether he would provide the fifth vote to limit or overturn Roe v. Wade - let's look at some abortion numbers.
The U.S. abortion rate declined 14 percent between 2011 and 2014, reaching a record low - not because of new abortion restrictions, but because of contraception and fewer unintended pregnancies: The Guttmacher Institute tallied a well-over 60 percent decline in the number of abortions in states without - repeat, without - new restrictions.
That fact alone - never mind Kavanaugh's avoidance of answering whether he believes Roe v. Wade is settled law (spoiler alert: an email he wrote in the Bush White House indicates he does not think it is settled law) - should cause women's rights advocates to see flashing red lights in an answer Kavanaugh did make to a different question.
He referred to contraception as "abortion-inducing drugs."
We know Kavanaugh is against abortion, and now we know he thinks birth control is abortion. (Inquiring minds want to know: Would he ban men from having vasectomies?) No wonder protesters are wearing Handmaid's Tale attire - a take-off on Margaret Atwood's novel of a totalitarian society that forces fertile women, handmaids, into child-bearing servitude.
Dawn Laguens, executive vice president at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said it is clear now why activists have been so emphatic in protesting his nomination.
"Kavanaugh referred to birth control - something more than 95 percent of women use in their lifetime - as an 'abortion-inducing drug,' which is not just flat-out wrong, but is anti-woman, anti-science propaganda," Laguens told HuffPost. "Women have every reason to believe their health and their lives are at stake."
Let's look at a few more numbers.
President Donald Trump, who nominated Kavanaugh, currently has a record low approval rating - 36 or 37 percent by the most reliable polls.
Kavanaugh, too, is unpopular. Public polling continues to show he is by far the most divisive nominee to the court in a generation, according to Vox. In July, a Fox poll found a plurality of Americans said he should be confirmed, but in late August - before the confirmation hearings began - only 46 percent favored his confirmation, while 45 percent did not. Nine percent were still unsure.
Legal abortion in America, on the other hand, has been around for 45 years, and it's very accepted. A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that nearly 70 percent of Americans do not want Roe v. Wade to be overturned.
Most of us understand there is a basic need for the law. A significant number of abortions are performed due to serious and life-threatening illness, serious congenital fetal anomalies, incest or rape.
Kavanaugh has a equally bad rap sheet in cases concerning the environment.
EcoWatch last week questioned whether he lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday when he cited four cases as evidence of his willingness to rule against industry to protect the environment.
"But in one of those cases, Kavanaugh actually ruled in favor of weakening air quality rules for cement plants," wrote Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs for the Environment Working Group. "In another, Kavanaugh doubled down on his position that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lacks the legal authority to regulate the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. In a third case, Kavanaugh's concurring opinion laid the groundwork for challenges of EPA regulations by polluting industries."
What's more important, according to EcoWatch, are the cases Kavanaugh failed to mention. In 16 of 18 cases, he ruled in appellate court in favor of more air and water pollution, and in 17 of 18 cases, he ruled to weaken protection for endangered species. In all he ruled for industry 32 out of 35 times.
"That's good news for industry, but really bad news for the rest of us," Faber wrote. "Kavanaugh has ruled that the EPA lacks the authority to regulate greenhouse gases. He ruled against regulating cross-state air pollution. He ruled in favor of dumping coal waste and dumping hazardous waste. He ruled that it's okay for factory farms to foul the air of their neighbors."
Kavanaugh - with his disingenuous answers about Roe v. Wade, his pathetic attitude about contraception, and his disinterest in clean air, clean water and environmental health - has no place on our high court.