Admittedly this is a very difficult and divisive subject, and I hesitate to publish anything so one-sided, but ultimately, everything will be written with a point of view. But are we so divided as we think? I think we can all agree the status quo is unacceptable. Currently, ONE IN FIVE pregnancies in America ends in abortion, and I think everyone wants to change this. The disagreement lies in how.
That said, I believe these views summarize and reflect the general view of the pro-choice movement:
That said, I believe these views summarize and reflect the general view of the pro-choice movement:
The fact that abortion exists in our society is simply a symptom of greater systemic problems in our system: The lack of effective resources regarding sexual health.
First, I think we need to teach kids what sex is and to treat it responsibly. Our approach of putting on blinders and using abstinence-only programs sets them up for failure. Abstinence-only education not only produces people that have equal number of sexual partners as non-participants, but are more likely to engage in unprotected and unsafe sex.
Second, we need to invest far greater resources into family planning and sexual health resources. This can limit the greater stress on society posed by unwanted pregnancies and abortions. Well-known fact: No federal dollars given to Planned Parenthood go towards abortion. Money given to sexual health resources like Planned Parenthood goes towards: reducing lost productivity by mothers and fathers, reducing stress on government resources like welfare (note that birth rates are inversely proportional to household income and most other socioeconomic status indicators), and most importantly, reducing abortions. That's right, removing funding from Planned Parenthood might make some feel better, but that actually increases the risk factors for abortion.
That being said, outlawing abortion is not such a simple thing. Just because you outlaw abortion doesn't mean it's not going to happen. Outlawing assault weapons doesn't stop assault weapons from being acquired or used (http://bit.ly/n1ANZj | http://bit.ly/pKom4w). Outlawing speech doesn't prevent opinions from being expressed by other means (http://bit.ly/pqtu1E | http://bit.ly/ogZNvH). Outlawing drugs doesn't stop drugs from being distributed- in fact, it actually builds an industry (http://bit.ly/rlS7qB | http://on.cfr.org/f5MVEP). I'll say it again- outlawing abortion does not preclude its occurrence. Don't get me wrong. I don't like abortion. I don't want it to happen. Nobody does. It's a very difficult decision that should be made by the individual, and definitely not by the government. And if you want to stop abortion, pull it up by the roots. Tell your congressman that you want comprehensive sexual education. Tell your congressman you'd rather fund condoms and birth control over jails and welfare. That's how you stop abortion.
Bottom line: Society is not and will never be perfect. Cut and dry morals may work for the individual (with a lot of cognitive dissonance), and is for the individual to pursue. Government can only protect the rights of its citizens and for proponents of greater government control, take proactive measures to improve the quality of life for its citizens. These will not be perfect either, and many unpleasant decisions will have to be made. However, those decisions should never be meant to be set in stone. Constant reforms must be implemented by a government to reflect lessons learned by an evolving society so that the government can adequately respond to the needs of its people. These opinions and recommendations are made from the best of our current knowledge, and someday abortion will hopefully be unnecessary and obsolete.
I am personally pro-choice. I don't believe that it's anyone's right but the mother's to decide whether or not she wants to terminate the pregnancy. If it's what she thinks will be best for her in the long run, then I don't believe there's anything wrong with it
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that the system Russia came up with back in the 1920s to decrease the growing death rate of women due to unsafe, back alley abortions could be a good one for the U.S.
they came up with a system for government funded abortions where, even though the person in charge (I'll go find the article to give you specific names and positions, but it was the person who oversaw health concerns) morally disagreed with abortions, he accepted that, if outlawed, the death rates would continue to rise
so they legalized it, but under specific conditions
if the mother was to get an abortion, she had to go to an approved hospital with a certified doctor and be monitored after the surgery
I believe there was a time constraint too. She had to be under 6 months I believe. Basically, it legalized abortions despite the fact that it was a moral contradiction at the time and made them much safer. I think that would be a good policy for the U.S. to adopt.
Your argument was focusing more on sex education, which I do think that is important
but I don't agree that it's the way to handle the abortion situation. I mean, education right now is pretty free right now; people learn quite a bit about protection and ways of prevention so I don't see that as an issue in the schools today. Educating people about protection doesn't help when protection fails- which it does from time to time (or so I've heard anyway). Condoms can break and birth control can be very finicky and stop working over possibly unknown conditions. There's also the 2% chance that it could not work, since it's been proven not to be 100% effective even when functioning normally.
That's why I think the sanctioned abortions would be a good idea. It allows a safe choice for those who want to terminate the pregnancy
because, regardless of how educated people are about a subject, it's still going to happen
and I don't think anyone should be forced into a situation they don't want to be in like parenthood especially since it's such a huge commitment. If a family is ready for a child, then it won't be a problem and they won't even consider an abortion. That's just my view anyway.