Episode 8: Cast A Stone — Abortion Rights, Data, and Cultural Reckoning

Peter Bogdanov
Sep 2
3 min read

Introduction

Abortion has been the loudest cultural war in America for fifty years. It’s pro-choice vs. pro-life, healthcare vs. murder, rights vs. morality. But where’s the middle? Episode 8 of the Middle Minded Podcast digs into this divisive ground by pairing raw art with raw data. Host Peter Bogdanov unveils his new song “Cast A Stone” — a confession of regret and cultural indictment — and then he and co-host Dave move beyond the music into statistics, history, and uncomfortable truths.

This is not about slogans. This is about loss, responsibility, and the numbers nobody wants to face. Listen to Episode 8 of the Middle Minded Podcast: “Cast A Stone – Abortion Rights.”

The Song: A Confession in Oil and Sound

Peter’s song “Cast A Stone” is no distant commentary. It’s his confession. The Russian refrain “Do Svidaniya” (“goodbye”) echoes like a funeral chant — not just for one lost child, but for generations. The lyrics indict both the individual and the culture: “We killers and we’re on ya.”

The track sets the emotional tone. But the conversation didn’t stop there. It opened the door to questions the culture avoids.

The Numbers Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud

One in Four Pregnancies Ends in AbortionIn 2020, roughly 25% of pregnancies in the U.S. ended in abortion. That’s millions of unheard breaths every year.
Race Disparities Are StarkAccording to CDC data, the abortion rate for Black women is about 28.6 per 1,000, compared to 6.4 for White women. That’s more than 4 times higher. Since Roe v. Wade in 1973, it’s estimated that over 19 million Black babies and nearly 29 million White babies have been aborted.
Urban vs. Rural DivideLifetime experience of abortion doubles in cities. 15% of urban/suburban women report having had an abortion, compared to just 7% of rural women. Cities normalize abortion — while rural America makes it rarer, by access or by culture.
Repeat Abortions Are CommonNearly 44% of abortions are among women who have already had at least one. This raises the haunting question: Is abortion becoming fallback birth control?
Post-Dobbs RealityEven after Roe’s reversal, national abortion totals rose above 1 million in 2024, driven by telehealth pills and interstate access. Abortion hasn’t disappeared — it has changed form, and in many ways become more invisible.

Cultural Decay or Structural Failure?

The debate isn’t only about numbers. It’s about why.

A conservative frame sees urban permissiveness, broken families, drug use, and secularism fueling the higher rates. A culture of irresponsibility produces a culture of abortion.
A progressive frame points to poverty, lack of healthcare, racism, and inequality. For many, abortion is less about freedom and more about survival.
The Middle Minded stance asks: Can both be true? Has our society been weakened both by cultural decay and structural neglect?

Fathers Without a Voice

One of the boldest points raised in the episode is the silence of fathers. Legally, men have no rights in abortion decisions. Yet if the child is born, men are legally bound to child support. Equality fails when fathers are both powerless and responsible.

Fertility Decline: A Bigger Crisis

The abortion debate doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Male testosterone has dropped by 50% over the last half-century. Sperm counts are plummeting. Female fertility is at record lows. In 2023, the U.S. total fertility rate fell to 1.6 births per woman, well below replacement.

So while abortion remains a flashpoint, the bigger picture is chilling: fewer pregnancies overall, more cultural confusion about gender and family, and a society sliding toward collapse by biology as much as by ideology.

Middle Minded Closing

We don’t need more shouting. We need honesty. Abortion is not just healthcare. It’s not just murder. It’s both cultural and personal tragedy, multiplied millions of times over.

So we end Episode 8 with this: