How the Fetus Veneration Movement Misses the Point
The last couple of weeks have truly baffled me. The fate of America's immediate financial solvency hung in the balance, held hostage to the demands of the hard-right interests of the zygote protection initiative. So offended were they that Planned Parenthood receives federal funding that they couldn't possibly provide the go-ahead for the continued funding of soldiers' combat pay, scientific research, or life-saving medical treatments unless PP was defunded. What a courageous moral stand! All so confusing as Planned Parenthood does so much more than just perform abortions- Everything from mammograms to post-natal care are provided at cheap prices so that in this climate of poor health coverage, women are still able to maintain a basic level of health for themselves and their young children. By going after Planned Parenthood with such bloodlust, the pro-life movement exposes a criticial lack of understanding of what policies will really lead to their goal of lowering the number of abortions in this country.
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| Planned Parenthood Annual Report 2008-2009 |
The blind rush to make it thoughtcrime for our schoolchildren to have knowledge of safe sexual conduct, hand in hand with the push to defund organizations that provide free or cheap family planning services by the pro-life community, sculpts a peculiar landscape in which Americans are brought up with neither the tools nor the knowledge to be fully actualized, mature sexual beings. The societal architecture is stunting their growth, with abstinence-only sex ed both limiting knowledge of safe sexual practices and leading to more unwanted pregnancies. Combined with the rabid push to defund Planned Parenthood, an organization which more effectively combats unwanted pregnancies than any action ever undertaken by the pro-life movement, underscores a lack of understanding of the way societal dynamics work on the issue. One can not blind the nation to the concept of premarital sex and expect abortions to go away. Only by giving sexually active individuals the tools they need to be well-informed partners can unwanted pregnancies be curbed in a meaningful way.
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| Pro-Life HMO |
What does the pro-life lobby think will result from their crusade against safe, easy access to abortions? That the procedure will just disappear? Unlikely. Whenever a prohibition has been placed on a high-demand product in America, the black market has always been more than happy to provide a fix. Ask your average American teen whether it's easier for them to get ahold of weed or booze. An entirely underground, unregulated market provides easier access which would more likely force young women into dangerous backroom operations as opposed to keeping abortions in the light of day in licensed medical clinics.
To see these factors in action, just look at the prevalence of abortion in various regions of the world. The Guttmacher Institute which specializes in research on reproductive health, concludes that "Legal restrictions on abortion do not affect its incidence. For example, the abortion rate is 29 [For every 1,000 women of childbearing age] in Africa, where abortion is illegal in many circumstances in most countries, and it is 28 in Europe, where abortion is generally permitted on broad grounds. The lowest rates in the world are in Western and Northern Europe, where abortion is accessible with few restrictions." In other words, the secular, sex positive societies of Europe with (gasp!) government funded abortions as part of their broader socialized medicine agendas still manage to have fewer abortions per capita than does America with its pro-life, Christ-infused politics. The numbers don't lie, the pro-life approach is unfounded. If you educate and treat sexually mature individuals as just that, mature, capable of making their own decisions when properly informed, you can put in a meaningful dent in the number of unwanted pregnanancies, and thus abortions.
6 comments:
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The average abortion per capita is much different than the average abortion per pregnancy.. Your statistics do not take into account that Africa has MUCH higher birthrates than Europe.
I’m not sure to whom this article is directed. I do not think this article would be affective in addressing the issues of those who feel even slightly differently than you. There are very deep moral conundrums faced by Planned Parenthood getting federal assistance. I consider myself pro-choice and quite liberal, but this is not strictly a left vs. right or religious vs. non-religious and I was disappointed in both sides being unable to come to a quicker conclusion. However, all of the terrible events you outlined in the beginning never actually happened, they were things both the left and right threatened would happen if the other refused to give-in. That’s politics, it sucks.
There are legitimate arguments for both pro-life and pro-choice. However, people bring religion into it too much and it subtracts from both arguments. Without religion, there are still many questions that have to be addressed. When does a life become a life? Why is it morally wrong to kill both a baby and an adult? Do these reasons not apply to fetuses? I’m not sure, and I have never heard anyone that is able to provide an adequate answer.
I am aware that there are huge social implications of making abortion illegal, but a black market is not justification for keeping something illegal. You could use that argument for harvesting organs or making tiger killings be regulated by the government. The fact is, just because people will do it anyways, does not mean it should be funded by the government. Weed cannot be equivocated to ending what could be a life. I read the study you cited, I found it very misleading. The number of abortions where they are illegal is almost the same as where they are not. However, these areas have less sexual education and access to birth control resulting in a far higher pregnancy rate. If making abortion illegal did not affect the incidence, there should be far more abortions.
But alas, making abortions illegal and teaching sex education has not even been what the debate in congress this past week was about. It was about federal funding going to an origination that provides abortions. A large part of America views abortion as not only immoral, but murder. To them, giving money to Planned Parenthood is a federally funded holocaust. Just because the federal funding does not go directly towards abortions, this frees up funds from other operation expenses to go towards abortion. I can relate to this stance. I personally am very strongly against the death penalty and those are convicted murderers! If it were still legal in Illinois, I would be fighting as hard as I could to make sure money was not going to kill people. If you cannot relate on this level, I hope most people here would be horrified, furious, and take a stand if government money was going to an institution that aided in the murdering of Americans because a large portion of the nation does not recognize them as full humans. I do not think it would make any difference to me the positives of this organization, if they were murdering people for no reason, I would be livid.
Just because we don not see abortion as murder or maybe just as questionably ethical, that does not mean we can just ignore the large part of the U.S. that does. This does not necessarily mean they are anti-woman or an idiot. It doesn’t even mean they’re religious. I think it’s important in order for this country to move forward for people to try to attempt to see the other side. Planned Parenthood does wonderful things for many communities and if they did not perform abortions, I’m sure few would have issues with them receiving financial aid. They were not willing to give up abortions and many pro-life were not willing to give into the funding of an organization that they believe is committing murder. It is a very difficult situation, and definitely an issue that will not be solved with name calling and completely denouncing the other side.
RE: "n this climate of poor health coverage." Ha, ha, ha!
To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson -
Anonymous 1- Nor does it take into account the fact that abortions are often illegal and thus underreported in Africa. The actual number is likely much higher.
Anonymous 2- The bottom line is that the actions pro-lifers are undertaking do nothing to effectively lower the rate of abortions in America. If that doesn't impact them, it raises questions as to how much the debate is about human life and how much it is about restricting the rights and education of women.
Anonymous 3- As it is.
Anonymous 4- Government is not a buffet where you pick and choose. You can't pick what science you want to fund, wars you want to fight, etc., individually. It simply wouldn't work. Besides, how many abolitionists paid taxes during the Jefferson administration?
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