Evangelicals Aren't Really Excited About Religious Freedom & Abortion
Evidence is attitudes toward unplanned pregnancies remains mostly unchanged. Certainly there are fewer clinically performed abortions. There is more access to birth control. There are more in home abortions. There are also a lot of abortions still performed at clinics.
A new survey reported on the anti abortion Christian site, Christian Post, says abortion and religious freedom rank below health care and economics conditions in importance. This makes perfect sense.
Anti abortion operatives have been taught over and over they could reduce abortions if they solve the economic problems women face. But, they are slow learners.
They always thought it clever to get in bed with economic conservatives of the Republican party. The truth is this group is for lower taxes and smaller government while anti abortion needs bigger government and higher taxes to support pregnant women. This includes better and cheaper health care as well as compensation for missing work.
For a variety of reasons, the cost of raising a child has continued to rise. The cost of an abortion was never very high and has not gone up very much. It is self evident having an abortion is a good economic decision.
This economic balance could be tipped against abortions. It could be done by putting more of the cost of raising a child on the tax payer and less on the mother. The math is self evident.
But the math does not accomplish one of the goals inside the anti abortion movement. That goal is to punish women for having sex. Rewarding them with economic help would reduce abortions but the punishment relished by anti abortion advocates would be lost and these folks would be humiliated.
The general public including most evangelicals are more concerned with practical problems of the day, paying their bills, than they are with the passions of religions zealots.
Tangential to today’s topic but... https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d3a58m/as-std-rates-soar-trump-is-giving-title-x-funding-clinics-that-dont-believe-in-condoms
ReplyDeleteI followed the link. I hope you can read this and understand that the Trump Administration is (1) only one of factor, (2) it's a 5-year trend so it actually counts 50-70% of the Obama Administration, and (3) it is impossible to conclude that either Administration can be seen as THEE factor for STI rates going in either direction. Then there is the editorial bias of vice.com. The logic is simple. If you don't have sex, you have 0% chance of getting an STI. If you have sex, you have some chance of getting an STI if your partner is infected. If you have sex and can't afford a baby, much less a condom, understand the consequences of your actions and be prepared to deal with those consequences.
DeleteI did read your reply. You are certainly entitled to your perspective. Keep your snow shovel sharp.
DeleteNow for something less tangential but may be editorially biased: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/a35y7e/gavin-newsom-california-public-universities-will-offer-abortion-pills-on-campus-in-2023
ReplyDeleteArdy B--It seems to me predictable that efforts of zealous anti abortion activism will result in more access instead of less. I was just thinking about gambling which was banned in most states until the late 1970's. Then, some states allowed Native American Casinos. They were built by the borders of states that did not allow gambling. I could see large abortion facilities just across the borders of states prohibiting abortions offering cheap transportation across state lines. The economics is there, children cost a lot, abortions cost little.
ReplyDeleteAbortion rates have been declining for over 3 decades to the point they are half of their post-Roe peak. Women have gotten smarter and more moral. They have defended themselves from the pressure of boyfriends, husbands and parents. In many cases, the men have been more supportive of life. Abortion is going away. Science and morals are winning.
Delete"Abortion is going away. Science and morals are winning." Certainly science, in the form of better birth control, is winning. Probably science is winning by more do-it-yourself abortions at home. We have data on how much birth control is purchased. Are men and women more careful about the sex lives? We have no information, other than questionnaire research about that.
ReplyDeleteScience in the form of better ultrasound. The days of grainy 2-D ultrasounds are being replaced by 3-D color ultrasounds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwl6OCgspiQ
DeleteAs the pro-life movement has been saying since Roe v. Wade, 'if the womb had a window to the womb' abortion would be mostly eliminated entirely.
Science in the form of in-utero surgery to repair conditions like spina bifida - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6PP67AsJaI
DIY abortions are very dangerous.
As I stated, the abortion rate is more than half of the Roe peak.
The abortion rate per 1000 women in 1979 was about 29.5. The abortion rate per 1000 women in 2017 is 13.5.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.statista.com/chart/19490/us-abortion-rate-guttmacher-institute/
1979 was the peak abortion rate post-Roe. The current rate is well below half the peak rate and shows no sign of continuing its descent.
Matt--"The current rate is well below half the peak rate.." Good strategy. After decades of claiming anti abortion politics would limit access to abortion on demand, it is now apparent it has all been a failure. So, instead of admitting failure, follow up better birth control and home abortions that actually reduced the frequency of surgical abortions with the outrageous claim somehow the countless millions spent of anti abortion promises were not wasted. That's OK. The main thing is that abortion on demand will remain more or less as available as it has been since Roe.
ReplyDeleteThe abortion rate statistics are not a strategy, just an observation. From the observation, we conclude that women in 2019 are 55% less inclined to abort their babies as women in 1979. I conclude they are 55% more pro-life, which is an amazing and great outcome of science, logic and faith.
DeleteYou can no more substantiate your wild claim that birth control and DIY home abortions are the reason for the drop in abortions than I can claim Fargo in January is colder than Orlando in January due to climate change.
We already know the number of child-killing centers has been reduced dramatically. The Supreme Court appears ready to chip away or dynamite Roe vs. Wade.
Matt "You can no more substantiate your wild claim that birth control and DIY abortions are the reason for the drop in abortions..." There are records of the numbers of women using birth control and the quantity of medicines purchased.
ReplyDelete(Abstinence + coitus interruptus + rhythm method + condoms + spermicides/sponges + IUDs + diaphragms/cervical caps + progestin/estrogen pills + Plan B pills + RU486 medication + vasectomies + tubal ligations) = less surgical abortions
DeleteScience - https://www.foxnews.com/health/baby-born-intact-amniotic-sac
DeleteArdy 12:07 pm: It wouldn't be too much to ask to show proof of your apparent statement of "fact"? As I look at the list, I don't see anything that really wasn't around in 1979 and widely available. You even missed Jon's "DIY abortions" which probably amounts to nothing. You both seem to be long on talk and short on facts. Facts! Science! No data!?
DeleteI believe that my "apparent statement of fact" in my reply to Jon on October 13, 2019 @ 12:07 PM is not falsifiable and for me is true by faith alone. Indeed I can be "long on talk and short on facts" and take no offense at your critique.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this kind of information with us.
ReplyDeleteVisit at our Website: https://www.womenscenter.com/abortion_pill.html