Idle Morons are the Devil's Playthings
Breaking my short publishing moratorium to bring you the abortion debate
"Despite what disingenuous proponents of abortion would like women to think, evidence shows that there are significant physical and mental health risks associated with having an abortion. Far from being safe, abortion is, in fact, an extremely risky procedure that can not only cause substantial harm to the patient and any future pregnancies, but can also lead to agonizing psychological trauma as well. The fact is that the pro-abortion left does not have women's best interests in mind. Until Planned Parenthood and its supporters decide to start telling the truth, thousands of women will continue to be the ignored and forgotten victims of legally induced abortion."
-- Scott "Alex" Harper, "Abortion poses serious health risks to mothers"The (USC) Daily Gamecock [20. Jan, 2005]. (1)
My response
In response to Alex Harper's Commentary on abortion (20 Jan., 2005), I would suggest that if women are facing psychological trauma from abortions, the Christian Right and other anti-abortion groups share much of the responsibility. By photographing women who visit clinics where abortions are performed, by publishing the personal information of clinic employees, by advocating (and in some cases executing) the murder of doctors and nurses who perform abortions, and by mounting national media campaigns against the practice, these groups seek to intimidate and shame women. No wonder women suffer mental anguish! This intimidation (as well as the subsequent clamor that the resulting mental stress is a reason to continue intimidating women) is nothing more than a bullying tactic.
No responsible person on either side of this issue would recommend that women have an abortion without first considering the consequences: physical, mental and spiritual. However, a more enlightened approach includes providing help and support for those women who decide that their circumstances warrant such a difficult choice. Instead of increasing the trauma, pro-life organizations could better spend their money caring for these victims and reducing the conditions that lead them to choose abortions in the first place. While not the ultimate factor, poverty and its consequent circumstances, such as domestic abuse, depression, sexual abuse, homelessness and a lack of education often lead women to choose abortions. Reducing the effects of poverty, especially among racial minorities (who are one of the main focuses of WorldNetDaily's sources on the reproductive effects of abortion), would in the long run decrease the rate of abortions.
Furthermore, as with all medical proceedures, abortions entail certain risks. However, rather than outlawing the proceedure, this is a primary reason to keep abortions "above the boards." If the underlying causes of abortion (poverty, lack of affordable contraception, a lack of accurate sexual education in schools, etc.) are not addressed, abortions will continue to be performed, regardless of their legality. Better to keep the circumstances as safe, clean and controlled as possible; in the long run, a return to the unenlightened, Victorian-era back-alley abortion proceedures would be devastating. If today's women face possible birth defects in their future children as a consequence, the alternative would be certain sterility or death.
-- Submitted to The Daily Gamecock, 21. Jan., 2005. (not yet published)
To this, I'll add something that occurred to me last night.
If social and pyschological pressures can influence a woman to choose abortion, then Harper's argument seems to come from the wrong direction. In other words, women who face stressful circumstances (especially because of poverty) might simply be more likely to need psychiatric care. Regardless of whether or not these women (2) have abortions, they might need more psychiatric care, due to the circumstances (largely povert-influenced), which I cite above. If these causes also drive the women to terminate their pregnancies, then that may be a contributing factor, but it would not mean that abortions necessarily sent them screaming and crying into the arms of pyschiatric professionals. In other words, I do not see any definite causal link, as suggested by Harper.
Also, make sure to read Brandy's response (which did get published) here.
----Endnotes-----
1. Emphasis mine. Registration required to view old articles. However, it's free.
2. And the "25% percent" he quotes from the Canadian government study (which I haven't been able to find -- surprise, surprise) still seems like a fairly low number. I would assume that the n for the study was fairly low, perhaps only in the hundreds.
--edited to remove bad page breaks; bold added; -W. 23.01.05
"Despite what disingenuous proponents of abortion would like women to think, evidence shows that there are significant physical and mental health risks associated with having an abortion. Far from being safe, abortion is, in fact, an extremely risky procedure that can not only cause substantial harm to the patient and any future pregnancies, but can also lead to agonizing psychological trauma as well. The fact is that the pro-abortion left does not have women's best interests in mind. Until Planned Parenthood and its supporters decide to start telling the truth, thousands of women will continue to be the ignored and forgotten victims of legally induced abortion."
-- Scott "Alex" Harper, "Abortion poses serious health risks to mothers"The (USC) Daily Gamecock [20. Jan, 2005]. (1)
My response
In response to Alex Harper's Commentary on abortion (20 Jan., 2005), I would suggest that if women are facing psychological trauma from abortions, the Christian Right and other anti-abortion groups share much of the responsibility. By photographing women who visit clinics where abortions are performed, by publishing the personal information of clinic employees, by advocating (and in some cases executing) the murder of doctors and nurses who perform abortions, and by mounting national media campaigns against the practice, these groups seek to intimidate and shame women. No wonder women suffer mental anguish! This intimidation (as well as the subsequent clamor that the resulting mental stress is a reason to continue intimidating women) is nothing more than a bullying tactic.
No responsible person on either side of this issue would recommend that women have an abortion without first considering the consequences: physical, mental and spiritual. However, a more enlightened approach includes providing help and support for those women who decide that their circumstances warrant such a difficult choice. Instead of increasing the trauma, pro-life organizations could better spend their money caring for these victims and reducing the conditions that lead them to choose abortions in the first place. While not the ultimate factor, poverty and its consequent circumstances, such as domestic abuse, depression, sexual abuse, homelessness and a lack of education often lead women to choose abortions. Reducing the effects of poverty, especially among racial minorities (who are one of the main focuses of WorldNetDaily's sources on the reproductive effects of abortion), would in the long run decrease the rate of abortions.
Furthermore, as with all medical proceedures, abortions entail certain risks. However, rather than outlawing the proceedure, this is a primary reason to keep abortions "above the boards." If the underlying causes of abortion (poverty, lack of affordable contraception, a lack of accurate sexual education in schools, etc.) are not addressed, abortions will continue to be performed, regardless of their legality. Better to keep the circumstances as safe, clean and controlled as possible; in the long run, a return to the unenlightened, Victorian-era back-alley abortion proceedures would be devastating. If today's women face possible birth defects in their future children as a consequence, the alternative would be certain sterility or death.
-- Submitted to The Daily Gamecock, 21. Jan., 2005. (not yet published)
To this, I'll add something that occurred to me last night.
If social and pyschological pressures can influence a woman to choose abortion, then Harper's argument seems to come from the wrong direction. In other words, women who face stressful circumstances (especially because of poverty) might simply be more likely to need psychiatric care. Regardless of whether or not these women (2) have abortions, they might need more psychiatric care, due to the circumstances (largely povert-influenced), which I cite above. If these causes also drive the women to terminate their pregnancies, then that may be a contributing factor, but it would not mean that abortions necessarily sent them screaming and crying into the arms of pyschiatric professionals. In other words, I do not see any definite causal link, as suggested by Harper.
Also, make sure to read Brandy's response (which did get published) here.
----Endnotes-----
1. Emphasis mine. Registration required to view old articles. However, it's free.
2. And the "25% percent" he quotes from the Canadian government study (which I haven't been able to find -- surprise, surprise) still seems like a fairly low number. I would assume that the n for the study was fairly low, perhaps only in the hundreds.
--edited to remove bad page breaks; bold added; -W. 23.01.05
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