Posted on 01/16/2009 10:55:06 AM PST by wagglebee
LifeNews.com Note: Dr. Wanda Franz is the president of the National Right to Life Committee and a former professor of clinical psychology at West Virginia University.
The pro-life movement in this country has been very successful in reducing the numbers of abortions and the abortion rate (the number of abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age). In 2005, the abortion rate was down 33% from its peak in 1980/81, the same level it had been in 1974.
If the abortion rate had not decreased from its peak value in 1980/81, but simply stayed the same, there would have been 50% more abortions in 2005: 1.8 million, instead of the actual 1.2 million.
This decrease in abortion has been greatest among adolescents and young people.
While abortions have decreased in women having their first pregnancy, the number of repeat abortions has increased. Today, 47% of all abortions are obtained by women who have already had at least one previous abortion.
In addition, most abortions occur now in the group of women who already have one living child. Thus, the demographics of abortion are changing. Today, the women, who are in need of pro-life support, are often those with families. No research has been done on this population group, until now.
A new study by Priscilla Coleman and colleagues has been published in the International Journal of Mental Health Addiction. This study uses data from the Fragile Families and Well-Being Study.
The sample was drawn from hospitals in 16 cities around the country, which had high numbers of unmarried births. The final sample consisted of families with one child. The mothers then either aborted or gave birth to a subsequent child.
The family characteristics indicated that the families met the requirement of being fragile: 87% were not married, 41% had less than a high school education, and 32% had an annual income under $15,000. Racial breakdown was 24% white, 56% black, 15% Hispanic, 1% Asian and 4% American Indian.
The ages of the participants fell into the age range when most abortions now occur, that is, 64% were between 20 and 29 years of age.
In this sample, 76.9% of the women with a subsequent pregnancy reported that the same man fathered both the first and second pregnancy. This is a surprisingly high level of stability, given the fragility of the family unit.
This study looked at the reasons women chose childbirth or abortion for their subsequent pregnancy. It is unique, in that, it examined the decision-making process in the context of the relationship with the father of the child. No other research on abortion decision-making has taken the family context into account.
This is an especially important issue for our future consideration, since so many abortions are currently performed on women with other living children, implying the presence of the father of the children.
The results of the study indicated that the most important factors in determining the women's choice to abort a second pregnancy were those associated with the father's inability or unwillingness to provide assistance in rearing the first child.
Women were significantly more likely to abort if they reported that the father of the child cannot be trusted to "watch the child for a week," "take good care of the child," "watch the child when the mothers needs to do things," "does not support the mother's way of raising the child," "does not respect the schedule and rules" for the child, etc.
In addition, it was found that mothers who were married to the father were significantly more likely to deliver the baby.
What is especially interesting are the variables that did not appear to influence the choice of abortion vs. delivery.
For example, the difficulty of raising the child, based on poor temperament of the child or the need for frequent medical intervention, did not affect the choice to abort. In addition, financial considerations were not important in the decision.
Employment and income did not predict the decision to abort. Surprisingly, aggression directed toward the mother by the father was not a factor in the choice to abort.
On the other hand, women who chose to abort the second baby, demonstrated more substance abuse following the abortion; and they were more apt to be physically abused by the father.
The results of this study are counter to the prevailing opinion that women abort because of poverty and financial considerations. Instead, these mothers were more apt to make the decision based on whether or not they would be supported in their role as a mother by a father who had already demonstrated an ability to care for one of his children.
Furthermore, marriage was a protective factor in determining the parents' decision to keep and raise their child.
This study supports the idea that abortion occurs in the context of a family. It requires both a committed mother and father to assure the choice to deliver and care for a child. Fathers are, not only important, but possibly decisive in the choice to have an abortion.
Yep, and it’s “safe and legal and rare,” though it seems that we need government to make it more common because 3500 murdered infants PER DAY just isn’t rare enough.
What a wonderful story. Your son looks very happy!
There’s also nothing empowering about a woman having sex with a man she doesn’t know or trust.
Wow, if one was to read Ann Coulter’s latest book they would see much the same thing printed on those pages. Single mothers cause much of the problems in this country by the simple fact there is no nuclear family to support her and the children. Hence, more abortions, more child murder after they are born(both are murder, I just wanted to differentiate between the two)by single moms wanting to be with a new boyfriend or to go out partying or children beaten to death by the new boyfriend(with mom’s help), more crime committed by the children after(IF)they grow up.
Those aren’t the only 2 options, tho. Adoption is one.
There is no catch 22, there is one simple solution, you don't the children to begin with unless you know you are going to have a partner(or at least strongly suspect such)who will stay with you and help raise them. This means, in simple English, that if you aren't married, don't have children, period. Read Ann Coulter's new book it explains many things and shows the statistics to back them up.
Interesting. I’ve never been in a position to talk to a woman who was considering an abortion, so I have no personal experience here. I have talked to women who have had abortions, but the conversations were brief.
I was talking about those who are already pregnant, in the context of encouraging them not to have an abortion. When working with pregnant women, who are contemplating abortion, it is rarely effective to tell them they should not have gotten pregnant to begin with.
wagglebee, thanks for allowing me to ask! Next week I hope to be to the point of collecting the data.
I disagree with this whole thing and it’s rationalizations. The top reason for abortion is submission to a moral depravity that results in a callous disregard for life.
Adoption is clearly the very best solution to this problem. I always encourage women to go the adoption route.
Strangely enough, the men who do not want the child and encourage the abortions, are usually against adoption. Many will refuse to consent to the adoption or even worse they sometimes threaten to seek sole custody of the child. This is terrifying to a woman who lacks the money for legal assistance, and she will almost always do what he wants.
I don’t understand it, probably because it doesn’t make sense, but these situations never have a good outcome.
Women having sex with and getting pregnant by men who are bad choices for fathers do generally have a bad outcome. It seems to be a big secret, tho.
I do agree with that. Once they are pregnant you have to deal with that. However, we need to do far more as a society in encouraging women to NOT have sex with men who they would not want to be married to and have children with. And we need to stop this nonsense that sex and marriage and children are not connected.
“I disagree with this whole thing and it’s rationalizations. The top reason for abortion is submission to a moral depravity that results in a callous disregard for life.”
That is fine if your purpose is to sit back and judge the actions of others. Some of us are actively trying to prevent the abortion of children by working with women who are considering it. Every time a woman chooses life over abortion, a murder is prevented.
It may not solve the problem of moral depravity, but I would argue that it produces better results than judging women who are already in a bad situation.
1) Men made all the laws.
2) Men impregnate the women.
3. It takes 2 to tango.
Yep, men made the laws, and made them so that they didn’t have any responsibility for getting free sex.
Like being duped?
Oh, and as for “men impregnate women” - that sounds... well, rather radical lesbian of you...
It takes two to tango, and if the woman says no, sex doesn’t happen, unless a crime is then committed.
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