Why Lorna Brett Howard Switched from Clinton to Obama

[Alhamdulillah 0]

This is pointless. I don't believe there are many women who use abortion as an alternative to birth control, you do. The restrictions that are in place are the ones that have nothing to do with making a value judgment on the legitimacy of the abortion. If you put those into the equation, the gloves are off and litigation is where you will end up.

I have personally known more than a few women who opted to have abortions for no other reason than their other manner of birth control failed and they didn't want to have the baby... so, yes, that makes be pretty sure there are women who do it and that's probably the leading reason for abortions in the US.

Statistics like these also help me form my opinions.

UNITED STATES

Number of abortions per year: 1.37 Million (1996)

Number of abortions per day: Approximately 3,700

Who's having abortions (age)?

52% of women obtaining abortions in the U.S. are younger than 25: Women aged 20-24 obtain 32% of all abortions; Teenagers obtain 20% and girls under 15 account for 1.2%.

Who's having abortions (race)?

While white women obtain 60% of all abortions, their abortion rate is well below that of minority women. Black women are more than 3 times as likely as white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are roughly 2 times as likely.

Who's having abortions (marital status)?

64.4% of all abortions are performed on never-married women; Married women account for 18.4% of all abortions and divorced women obtain 9.4%.

Who's having abortions (religion)?

Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as "Born-again/Evangelical".

Who's having abortions (income)?

Women with family incomes less than $15,000 obtain 28.7% of all abortions; Women with family incomes between $15,000 and $29,999 obtain 19.5%; Women with family incomes between $30,000 and $59,999 obtain 38.0%; Women with family incomes over $60,000 obtain 13.8%.

Why women have abortions

1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).

At what gestational ages are abortions performed:

52% of all abortions occur before the 9th week of pregnancy, 25% happen between the 9th & 10th week, 12% happen between the 11th and 12th week, 6% happen between the 13th & 15th week, 4% happen between the 16th & 20th week, and 1% of all abortions (16,450/yr.) happen after the 20th week of pregnancy.

Likelihood of abortion:

An estimated 43% of all women will have at least 1 abortion by the time they are 45 years old. 47% of all abortions are performed on women who have had at least one previous abortion.

Abortion coverage:

48% of all abortion facilities provide services after the 12th week of pregnancy. 9 in 10 managed care plans routinely cover abortion or provide limited coverage. About 14% of all abortions in the United States are paid for with public funds, virtually all of which are state funds. 16 states (CA, CT, HI, ED, IL, MA , MD, MD, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA and WV) pay for abortions for some poor women.

© Copyright 1998, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (www.agi-usa.org)

© Copyright 1997, The Alan Guttmacher Institute. (www.agi-usa.org)

© Copyright 1995, Family Planning Perspectives

© Copyright 1988, Family Planning Perspectives

http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html

[Alhamdulillah 0]

More stats:

INCIDENCE OF ABORTION

• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion.[1] Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.[2]

• In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.[2]

• Each year, about two out of every 100 women aged 15–44 have an abortion; 47% of them have had at least one previous abortion.[3]

Number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44, by year

• At least half of American women will experience an unintended pregnancy by age 45[4], and, at current rates, about one-third will have had an abortion.[5,6]

WHO HAS ABORTIONS?

• Fifty percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are younger than 25: Women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and teenagers obtain 17%.[7]

• Black women are 4.8 times as likely as non-Hispanic white women to have an abortion, and Hispanic women are 2.7 times as likely.[7]

• Forty-three percent of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27% as Catholic.[3]

• Women who have never married obtain two-thirds of all abortions.[7]

• About 60% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.[7]

• The abortion rate among women living below the federal poverty level ($9,570 for a single woman with no children) is more than four times that of women above 300% of the poverty level (44 vs. 10 abortions per 1,000 women).*[3]

• The reasons women give for having an abortion underscore their understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.[8]

http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

[Peikko 1,575]

There is no way of allowing for value judgments with regard to abortion because everyone has a different judgment as to what is and isn't acceptable in terms of the justification for having one. All society can do is either accept legal abortion or not. The US allows for legal abortion and quite rightly accepts the person who is having the abortion's opinion that it is justified. Anything else would lead to horrible court cases, late term abortions and illegal abortions.

It's far better to concentrate on educating everyone on birth control, relationships and providing good counseling to those who seek abortions than trying to make these ethical judgments on what is and isn't acceptable in terms of abortion.

[Peikko 1,575]

I think your statistics point to the need for much better education and possibly more support for low income families.

Oh, and I don't know anyone who has had an abortion as a means of birth control...mind you, I don't know that many women who have had abortions or should I say, I don't know many women who tittle tattle about such things.

[Sister Fracas 5]

I think your statistics point to the need for much better education and possibly more support for low income families.

And yet, many times it will be the same groups that oppose the right of a woman to choose that will also rant and rave about providing education AND actual birth control to those that need it most.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

I think your statistics point to the need for much better education and possibly more support for low income families.

And yet, many times it will be the same groups that oppose the right of a woman to choose that will also rant and rave about providing education AND actual birth control to those that need it most.

That's what we call Catholics.

I think birth control should be pushed. I would prefer that a woman not get pregnant rather than get unpregnant.

Not all people who object to abortion on moral grounds fit into the generalized stereotype of a pro-lifer.

[Peikko 1,575]

I don't think it is simply a question of Catholic aversion to birth control, apart from anything else I thought Rome had somewhat softened its line on the use of condoms?

There is this culture among many religions that sex before marriage is sinful. In and of itself that's not so bad (although personally I feel that this idea is a useful tool for many church hierarchies to control their adherents but that's a whole other kettle of fish). However, the sad truth is that this view leads to all kinds of damaging consequences. There is a horrible tendancy for those who wish to practice no sex before marriage to project this standard on everyone else and thereby obfuscate perfectly simple birth control practices.

Of course, the lack of education doesn't simply lay at the door of the religious, that would be too simplistic. Maybe another little myth that could be debunked is that sex with a condom isn't somehow 'as good as' sex without.

On another tack, personally I believe that people should be taught to value their bodies more and for perfectly practical reasons not just because of some religious belief that sex is only the province of married couples. Everyone should be able to make decisions about their bodies based on self belief and personal self worth. It's not just about sex education either. Self image, choices about drugs and food should all be based on knowledge of how these choices affect one's physical and mental self. Currently it seems a rather pot luck affair if one understands one's own body or not.

Oops, I think I have gone a little off topic...

[Alhamdulillah 0]

I think your statistics point to the need for much better education and possibly more support for low income families.

Oh, and I don't know anyone who has had an abortion as a means of birth control...mind you, I don't know that many women who have had abortions or should I say, I don't know many women who tittle tattle about such things.

The statistics show that the main reason for abortion is back-up-birth-control. If you choose to ignore the stats because you don't want to believe that 93% of abortions is for no other reason than they didn't want the baby, that's your choice.

[Peikko 1,575]

I didn't ignore the statistics. I challenged your conclusions as to what the statistics should mean in terms of changing the current legislation regarding abortion. As I said, your statistics point to the need for more education, more help for the poorest people in society. Changing current legislation on abortion and creating conditions that are based on judgment calls before an abortion can be performed will have the effects I cited, which you seem to have ignored.

Back up birth control is also a misnomer.

[rebeccajo 14]

I think your statistics point to the need for much better education and possibly more support for low income families.

And yet, many times it will be the same groups that oppose the right of a woman to choose that will also rant and rave about providing education AND actual birth control to those that need it most.

That's what we call Catholics.

I think birth control should be pushed. I would prefer that a woman not get pregnant rather than get unpregnant.

Not all people who object to abortion on moral grounds fit into the generalized stereotype of a pro-lifer.

I'm as far from Catholic as you could get and I still think this is out-of-line.

[rebeccajo 14]

I think your statistics point to the need for much better education and possibly more support for low income families.

Oh, and I don't know anyone who has had an abortion as a means of birth control...mind you, I don't know that many women who have had abortions or should I say, I don't know many women who tittle tattle about such things.

Unfortunately, I have known such people. I knew a couple who had two abortions before they finally gave up and decided to have the babies they were making. I know another girl who had an abortion when we were in college and later married the father after he got out of med school and they could afford children.

But I still don't want the government telling me what I can do with my body. Especially when it involves a 'person' who isn't viable outside of my body. And don't give me that nonsense about a newborn isn't 'viable' either because it needs cared for. Anybody else could care for that infant after birth. Before birth it needs the host body to survive.

That being said, I wouldn't pick a candidate either because of a single issue. Abortion, immigration, or any single issue.

As an aside, Roe v. Wade hangs some of its weight on the Fourteenth Amendment to the constitution, which talks about liberties. If the hot button of this decision based upon an amendment that was over 100 years old isn't enough argument to prove how we shouldn't really mess with the Constitution, I don't know what is.

Edited January 24, 2008 by rebeccajo

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

I think your statistics point to the need for much better education and possibly more support for low income families.

And yet, many times it will be the same groups that oppose the right of a woman to choose that will also rant and rave about providing education AND actual birth control to those that need it most.

That's what we call Catholics.

I think birth control should be pushed. I would prefer that a woman not get pregnant rather than get unpregnant.

Not all people who object to abortion on moral grounds fit into the generalized stereotype of a pro-lifer.

I'm as far from Catholic as you could get and I still think this is out-of-line.

I'm just talking about the people that are against all forms of birth control. There are some people that consider pulling out a sin. Those are the ones I was talking about.

[Ban Hammer 12,835]

You already stated what you are. Why the big deal about this?

So are you one of those people who support the murder of inocent babies?

It's not murder of inocent babies. A woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy if she wants to regardless of how it happed. It is a person's right- just as free speech.

which amendment of the constitution covers the right to abortion?

[Alhamdulillah 0]

But I still don't want the government telling me what I can do with my body.

Go try to sell one of your kidneys or attempt to commit suicide and see how fast the govt steps in to tell you what you can or can't do with your body. You can't pump your body full of illegal drugs either. This is no different. Actually it is, it's more important to place restictions on what a woman can do with her own body when that involves another person's life.

[Alhamdulillah 0]

I didn't ignore the statistics. I challenged your conclusions as to what the statistics should mean in terms of changing the current legislation regarding abortion. As I said, your statistics point to the need for more education, more help for the poorest people in society. Changing current legislation on abortion and creating conditions that are based on judgment calls before an abortion can be performed will have the effects I cited, which you seem to have ignored.

Back up birth control is also a misnomer.

You said you don't believe there are women (or many women) who use abortions as a form of birth control but the statistics I posted show that 93% (most) of abortions are done for no other reason than the woman didn't want to have a baby, for whatever reason other than medical.... that's birth control.