Wednesday, May 05, 2010

The problem with banning abortion

I want to call your attention to an article entitled "The Story of My Illegal Abortion". Here's some information that would be helpful for us all to know:

According to a 1958 Kinsey study, illegal abortion was the option chosen by 80 percent of single women with unwanted pregnancies. Statistics on illegal abortion are notoriously unreliable, but the Guttmacher Institute, a respected international organization dedicated to sexual and reproductive health, estimates that during the pre-Roe vs. Wade years there were up to one million illegal abortions performed in the United States each year. Illegal and often unsafe. In 1965, they count almost two hundred known deaths from illegal abortions, but the actual number was, they estimate, much higher, since the majority went unreported.

Here's the thing. I think abortion is a tragedy and I think it is the taking of life. But I don't think they should be made illegal because they will just go underground. I really want to reduce the number of abortions - not just punish women. Studies have shown that countries with legal abortions as well as goodbest sex education and legal abortions have, in fact, the fewest abortions. Why don't we do what actually works instead of what feeds our self-righteousness.
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