here's my issue with the 'rare' part of safe, legal and rare

[jeff47]

64. The thing you are making rare in your example is bad.

Your example is something that is inherently bad, and so you want to make it rare.

Now you talk about needing to make abortion rare. Ta-da! You get the same inherently bad connotation because you are trying to make something rare. Abortion is bad like polio.

Saying that abortion should be rare is NOT a matter of restricting the number of abortions sought and provided. It is a matter of less unwanted pregnancies resulting in less need to terminate those pregnancies.

As said before, "safe, legal and rare" is a slogan. And it doesn't matter what the intended meaning of the slogan is, what matters is how the slogan is perceived.

Including "rare" doesn't work for the same reason Metamucil's slogan is not "Makes you full of shit". It's accurate, but does not result in a positive connotation. So Metamucil emphasizes getting rid of the shit they fill their customers with.

What is being argued here is that saying abortion "should be rare" somehow means cutting back on the number of abortions provided - which has nothing whatsoever to do with it.

Nothing whatsoever to do with your intended meaning. It's a slogan. All you said was "rare". Now the reader/listener gets to wander off into whatever intention they want to apply to the slogan.

The slogan does not start a 3,000 word essay on the subject. It has to stand alone. And when it stands alone, other people can apply any intent they want. And they can apply safe, legal and rare in any order they want, and in any way they want. "It's already safe (doctors do it), it's already legal (Roe), so time to work on rare by closing down most clinics" fits the slogan despite the fact that this is the opposite of your intent.

The notion that saying "abortion should be rare" means "let's perform fewer of them on women who want/need them" is utterly ridiculous, and misses the point entirely.

Misses your point entirely. But again, it's a slogan. Your intent has been stripped away for the sake of brevity because it is a slogan.

The only thing I would add to "safe, legal and rare" is "easily obtainable and affordable".

unabtainable and unaffordable abortions are not safe.

Abortion should be safe and legal.