Today's post is brief. I've posted before about Roe v Wade and the debate still occuring around abortion, but today, the focus is a video of the facts. Regardless of your opinion, this video by Guttmacher provides basic facts about abortion, e.g., who is having them, religious affiliations, age, etc. In other words, we must remember that it is not simply those women who have abortions and those women that have babies. Check it out. I'd love feedback and thoughts. Did you learn something? Were you surprised? And, of course, I encourage you to pass this blog entry on to others so that they, too, can be educated about the hot topics in our society.
I posted this link on my facebook page and thought it would be a useful addition to your blog. I think it is important to understand what exactly is going on regarding the stripping of women's reproductive rights. Of course, there will never be a straight up reversal of Roe v Wade- that is too obvious. People would sream from the rooftops! BUT small (yet significant) methodical changes are occurring. We need to be informed and make sure to challenge- and scream from the rooftops-against these actions! Happy Anniversary! http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/get-involved/2011-the-war-on-women.html
ReplyDeletedamn- I wanted the link to show and for people to be able to click on it....maybe Devon this is something you only have the power to do? :)
Deletehttp://www.prochoiceamerica.org/get-involved/2011-the-war-on-women.html
Thanks for the comments. I wasn't able to link the website, but if interested parties highlight and right click, there is an option to "Go to [website]".
DeleteThanks for the post, Devon. I was not surprised by any of the facts on the video and had personally been aware of these statistics.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised, however, by the end of the video when it calls for abortion and at the very least, contraception to be available at an "affordable" cost to all in solution to the poorer, ethnic minorities having a disproportionally higher abortion rate. This seems so irresponsible of a viable source to suggest as a solution! Addressing the immediate symptom without addressing the problem, will never bring a about a permanent, viable, and sustainable solution. For a parallel to a “non” hot topic, say I had back pain and took an ibuprofen each time the pain acted up, and continue to do that forever. I would only be addressing the immediate symptom. If I ever wanted to actually “fix the problem”, I should probably see a medical professional, change my habits, do stretches, limit my activity, etc in order to actually address the pain and lessen it. To suggest that increased affordability of abortions will help with the lopsided statistic mentioned, only seems to infer continued and increased regularity of abortions for this demographic. Even for people who are proponents of abortion, this idea doesn’t seem to hold up, in the words of President Clinton, that abortion should be “safe, legal, and RARE”.
Perhaps an increase in commitment to educating not only this demographic but all would be a better solution. I surely can’t even come close to claiming I have “The Answer”, but more funding and focus on addressing the true societal issues versus eliminating the immediate “symptom” would definitely do a great service to not only the women of this country, but all Americans.
Alexandra, thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate the perspective you bring to the blog. I do, however, disagree with some of your statements. I do believe contraception should be affordable. This is based on several things. First, I believe individuals will engage in sexual behavior; therefore, to make it safer and to prevent unwanted or unplanned pregnancies making contraception affordable and accessible is a good response in my opinion. I am not simply referring to young people, but rather to individuals throughout our society. Additionally, under health care plans for years drugs to enhance male sexual behavior have been covered (Viagra). I do not see how this can be covered and yet something such as contraceptives, meant to protect and make safer sexual behavior, is not covered. Granted this is changing slowly. Finally, I ultimately agree with the video in regards to make abortion more affordable or at least partially covered under health care programs. I say this because Roe v Wade did occur and abortion is legal. Therefore, if we make it unaccessible, research has shown that women will still undergo abortion (just in unsafe, unhealthy conditions). In fact, there was a recent article about this. Not only does the research in the article suggest abortion rates are higher where abortion is illegal, but also purports that access to contraceptives do in fact decrease the number of unwanted or unplanned pregnancies.
Deletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/abortion-rates-higher-countries-illegal-study_n_1215045.html
As always, I am grateful for your feedback and thoughts about this and other topics and hope we, and others, will continue this discussion.
I'm old enough to remember when abortion was illegal. In my generation, we all knew women who went into the back-doors of doctor's offices or even people who were not doctors. Not a small number of them then became very ill, or even died of infection, hemorrhage, etc. Making abortion more affordable is a complicated and sensitive issue. Rationality and personal ethics/feelings don't always find a common ground. But making contraception accessible and affordable to all is, in my view, not only a logical step toward solution, it is an intelligent, responsible and vital component in establishing a long-term solution. Contraception prevents pregnancy, which in turn inherently negates the need to seek an abortion. And "dgtt" is right: If insurance covers Viagra, then how can it not cover contraception?
ReplyDeleteI think more than anything I was saddened when watching this video. Something that really hit my emotions hard was the statistic about abortions by women who already have 1 or 2 children. It really breaks my heart that a mother would have to make that choice between the life of her unborn child and the lives of her children that are already here. While I don't agree that abortions should be covered by insurance, I do think there needs to be some kind of more affordable options. Maybe clinics that use a scale based upon income that determines what you would pay? I of course don't have all the answers.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Alexandra about treating the problem and not the symptoms. I think she was absolutely right, which the video touched on as well. I think offering relevant and affordable education for women would make a huge difference in the prevention of unwanted pregnancies; which then negate the need for abortions as Sande said as well.
Devon, thank you for your blog and for offering a safe place for all to discuss and share our thoughts. I look forward to your posts! Keep then coming! :)