William Saunders, vice president for legal affairs at Americans United for Life, knocks down the claim that universal health care reduces abortion:
While Reid’s argument that health care benefits reduce abortion rates is unsupported, and even disproved, studies do confirm that abortion law has a direct impact on the incidence of abortion. A 2004 study that appeared in The Journal of Law and Economics analyzed the relationship between changes in abortion policies and abortion rates in post-communist Eastern Europe (where under communist rule health care was “universal” and abortion rates were tremendously high). Modest restrictions on abortion were found to reduce abortion rates by around 25 percent.
March 21st, 2010 | 9:45 pm
Interesting bill…
First it will provide tax dollars to fund Abortion.
Second, it will mandate government health care and turn you into a criminal if you choose not to pay the 2% of your Gross income, and you’ll be turned over to the IRS for prosecution.
This is a flawed health care bill. I do not support it, nor will I ever support it!
March 22nd, 2010 | 8:46 am
The main thing reduced by universal health care is health care.
But there will be a quantum leap in eugenic editing at the beginning of life, with a boom in genetic testing in utero for high medical risk. Therapeutic abortion (what a great term) will become the Starbucks of the medical world — so important to getting a good start.
Then comes the new high enthusiasm for euthanasia at the end of life, accompanied no doubt by a new generation of euphoriants to help make the “pathway” to “transition” no more than a trolley ride.
And, of course, there will be the bureaucratic triage and rationing for everyone in between.
You see, what’s important is that the universal system show good numbers at congressional hearings and on the nightly news. The target audience for universal care is the healthy, and they must be reassured. And they will be, until they get sick or just old.
March 22nd, 2010 | 11:31 am
Consider this: To reduce abortions, try reducing unwated pregnancies.
Universal health care may not be the final answer, but if it provides wider access to contraception and reduces the financial strain on those already struggling to make ends meet, it is part of the solution.
To reduce abortions, I believe that health education in schools should focus on teaching girls and young women about their bodies. What really is a mentrual cycle? When are you fertile? How can you tell? I learned nothing of this in school. Being aware of your body is a good start to being aware of yourself. Giving young women the information they need is a step towards empowering them to make better choices in life, for themselves, and for their families.
March 22nd, 2010 | 12:03 pm
ria Universal health care may not be the final answer, but if it provides wider access to contraception. . .
According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, 54 percent of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method (usually the condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant. Only 8 percent who have abortions have never used a method of birth control. Access to contraceptives is not the problem.
Giving young women the information they need is a step towards empowering them to make better choices in life, for themselves, and for their families.
About 60% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children. Half of the women who get abortions are over 25; 80 percent are over the age of 18 and 98.8 percent are over the age of fifteen. Information about where babies come from is also not the problem.
March 22nd, 2010 | 2:43 pm
Joe Carter,
I see what you’re getting at. However, there’s a lot of inference in your data. If 54% percent of abortions come from women who are familiar with contraception….why the failure? Did they stop using contraception? Use it improperly? Condoms and the “pill” are 99% effective when used properly. This is why I suggest education on women’s bodies in conjunction with access to contraception.
“About 60% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children”
I don’t know what your personal opinion is on conception, but I am convinced that you don’t need to know anything about biology in order to get pregnant. This is also why I stress education (from teachers and parents) about reproduction. Many forms of contraception now stop or reduce women’s periods (Yaz, IUDs) by altering her hormonal cycles. This prevents any type of biofeedback. I suggest that providing girls and young women with information on how their bodies work, when they are fertile, when they are not, and how they can learn about their own hormonal cycles will teach them a bodily awareness that will extend to their behavior within their personal relationships.
Calling it “Information about where babies come from” is trivializing a huge part of women’s existence. Reproductive health is so much more than conception and birth. Women cycle in and out of fertility for almost 40 of their lives. Pregnancy, breast feeding, as well as lifestyle all has an effect on fertility. I argue that a woman who is aware of her body, of when she is and isn’t fertile, is more likely to use contraception properly and successfully to avoid an unwanted pregnancy.
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