New Abortion Study Fuels Criticism of Obama and Praise of Palin
Reader Comments
They won't listen to statistics
When we have people like Mr. Obama calling pregnancy a "punishmnet" instead of acknowleding that pregnancy is a growing child with a heartbeat, brain waves and DNA markers, it does not matter what statistics are presented. There will always be those so selfish that they care little that killing a growing human is murder. When we finally care about abortion, we can say we care about children. Until then, we will continue to be a hedonistic, cruel society of "me first" and wants. It only makes sense that parents get a say in a medical procedure, but the common sense escapes too many. As for sex ed, as a high school teacher I was disgusted to see that the word "marriage" could not be used (it was a value judgment apparently). With 1 in 4 girls having STD's and boys being the benefactor of teen sex (little disease, no pregnancy, double standard emotionally, etc), unless we change the emphasis of sex ed to DON'T DO IT; IT IS NOT GOOD FOR YOU AS A TEEN (& specifically as a girl), I will not support it. My 8 and 14 yr old know all about sex; disease, rape, the double standard and they know all about what God and their parents want for them as well as what THEY should want for themselves. The feminist culture of sex is a free expression of ourselves and therefore good is what is KILLING our born and soon-to-be-born children.
Homer -- Any evidence?
Homer,
While you certainly offer suggestions as to what could happen to particular girls, you have offered no statistics to prove how often those consequences do occur.
Someone might just as easily retort with far more positive narratives about parents helping daughters through difficult times, families adopting the otherwise unwanted babies of girls in trouble, or young women rising to the occasion and still becoming very successful in life even while raising a baby on their own.
Obama's mother managed to get a Ph.D. while raising a child as a single mom.
Also, your characterization of the pro-life movement is flat out ignorant. There are countless pro-life groups providing support for single mothers. Maybe they would be more effective if they got some of Planned Parenthood's profits and government aid.
punishment enough...
Yeah, have one, two, three abortions before you're 18, be part of the hip clique in high school, the envy of your friends, the template of the successful feminist....OR...
Be punished by having a snotty-nosed, time-consuming, chattel-making rugrat, who cuts into your personal time and always cries at the very moment you're reaching climax with your homme du jour....
No-Brainer, ain´t it?
Abortion rates drop MORE in states without parental notification!
Since the figures given show that the overall rates of abortion in teenagers dropped to 48% of what they were at the starting time frame, it seems that having parental notification laws did not decrease teenage abortions as much as in those states that did not have those laws.
It could be that the parental notification laws led to more parents insisting on abortion when their minor children told a parent she was pregnant.
Operative words:
"In the period studied, the overall abortion rate fell 50 percent, ... He says his most dramatic finding was the drop in the rate of abortions among minor girls. Between 1985 and 1999, the abortion rate for girls between the ages of 13 and 17 dropped from 13.5 for every 1,000 girls, to 6.5 per 1,000."
So overall the abortion rate dropped 50% but for minors it dropped 52%, an insignificant difference.
This study was brought to you by one of the most active anti-abortion groups in the country.
The greatest drop in abortion rates comes from an improvement in complete, scientifically accurate sex education. That is what was increasing during the time period this "study" covered. The abortion rate has been rising over the last 6 years with the increase in "abstinence only" sex education.
The abortion rates are just as high in countries with no legal abortion as they are in countries allowing it. However, maternal mortality is much higher in countries where abortion is illegal.
Ridiculous
So a legislated barrier to abortion gets put up and, as a result, abortions go down. And somehow this is surprising?
So some 15 yr old girl, who is afraid to tell her folks about her pregnancy, decides not to get a safe, legal abortion and instead decides to:
1) travel to another state to have the safe, legal abortion,
2) have an unsafe, illegal abortion, or
3) have the baby, drops out of high school, gets kicked out of her house for getting pregnant, her boyfriend dumps her, and so she starts selling drugs or sex for a living while her child - that the anti-choice crowd cared so much about when it was in her womb but are now nowhere to be found - is raised in poverty and will probably get pregnant herself at 15.
Parade of Horribles? If you think so, then you have decided to live your life in ignorance on this issue and what the real life consequences are for young women every single day in America.
31% reduction if TWO parents have to consent!
From Author Michael New:
-If a state passes a pro-life parental involvement law it reduces the minor abortion rate by 13 percent
-If this law requires parental consent (rather than parental notice) it reduces the minor abortion rate by 19 percent
-If this law requires the involvement of two parents (rather than one parent) it reduces the minor abortion rate by 31 percent.
-These findings held true for all age groups that were analyzed --17 year olds, 16 year olds, and 15 year olds.
More info on the study can be found at:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YmVjMmQ2NzA1NjkyNDA2OGExZjM0MDgwYTU1NmFkM2U=&w=MA
Ruben
