"During the 1990's the family cap, Medicaid funding for abortions, and state laws restricting access to abortions appear to have no effect on the abortion rate."
In other words, laws passed illegalizing abortion had no effect on the actual rates on abortion. Also, when Medicaid covered the costs of abortion (which many pro-lifers are extremely against) there was no rise or fall in the number of abortions.
Furthermore, "a $100 increase in AFDC-TANF [Assistance to Families with Dependent Children - Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, also known as "welfare"] was correlated with a decrease in the abortion rate of about 20%. A four percent increase in male employment is associated with a 21% decrease in the abortion rate, while that same increase in female employment suggests a 17% increase in the abortion rate." (emphasis mine).
These results should be eye-opening to pro-life Christians. It is a fundamental value of the religious right to want laws that make abortion illegal. However, it is clear that these laws have had no effect on the number of children aborted. Essentially, you can change a law, but if an individual's economic status is not altered, then their behavior will not change.
It is also a historic value of the religious right to be against social spending to needy families. They say "why should the government give them money when they could work and make money?" However, it is clearly shown in this study that a mere $100 increase in welfare assistance substantially decreased the number of abortions, much more so than any law has.
Furthermore, if the government increases social spending (this includes more than just welfare checks) and therefore increases the number of available jobs, then more men will be employed which also decreases the number of abortions.
In essence, this study shows the true social change necessary to end abortion in our country. You may think I'm un-Christian or un-Republican (ok, maybe I am un-Republican), but these facts cannot be ignored. I am just as much against abortion as people picketing to have Roe v. Wade overturned. I just hope that we can be intelligent Christians who make opinions based on facts and not traditions.
4 comments:
"Un-republican" makes me chuckle...I suspect they'd call you "liberal" more than anything else...overall, very true though...seems to me that the best way to approach societal issues is from a moral, but secular, perspective...
Though I wouldn't want to be quoted on that...I'm sure there are plenty of examples contrary to that point...
I look forward to reading more, ma'am...
Before I respond to, I must remind you that you asked for this..
I don't intend to argue with statistics. I assume that your premise is that financially stable families are more likely to keep a child rather than abort it.
I think an important question is "Do you think abortion is murder?" or "Is the fetus a living human?" Because I believe abortion is nothing short of murder I will start referring to it as such.
It's a shame that making murder illegal has no affect on the murder rate. It's also a shame that financially stable families are less likely to commit murder.
We should give these lower income families money based on their needs rather than an attempt to keep them from murdering other people.
I don't necessarily believe that acting on principle is the same as acting on tradition. I believe murder is wrong, and it should be illegal. I think that allowing people to get away with murder is dangerous to our society. There are appropriate and inappropriate ways to reduce the murder rate. Just because one may be more effective doesn't make it right. I believe that doing the 'right' thing is more important than temporarily reducing the murder rate.
With that said, I don't totally disagree with your article. I just wanted to put out some opposition..
Tyler, don't worry, I wasn't offended at all.
I definitely agree with you in saying that abortion is wrong and it should be illegal. Maybe I didn't do a good enough job of expressing that, or maybe I was overcompensating.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is, you can change a law and it won't change people values. Just because we make abortion illegal doesn't mean people will think its wrong. If a family can't afford to have a child, they're simply not going to have one.
Also, because abortion is so controversial, oftentimes people who are pro-choice will immediately tune out your argument if they find out you're pro-life. So I was intentionally trying to focus on the statistics rather than morals.
So I guess, the best solution is a combination of the two things. Ideally, abortion will be illegal and families will be provided with adequate resources to care for the children being born. If not, child abuse rates will rise and there will be an influx of children in foster care or put up for adoption. So, our government (and our churches) need to be prepared to meet the needs of these children.
Well said. I certainly believe it is a combination.
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