Democrats, Let’s get serious about ending abortion…
…by ending unwanted pregnancies.
A recent study showed that 49% of the pregnancies concluding in 1994 were unintended; 54% of these ended in abortion.
Clearly, if we want to get some traction on reducing the number of teenager pregnancies we should look toward the “pro-life” movement as partners rather than adversaries.
It is a well researched fact that poverty and a host of downstream social ills disproportionately haunt teenage mothers. The progress that we can make as a society by drastically reducing (even eliminating) unplanned pregnancies among teens should outweigh any discomfort liberal have with getting into bed with “anti-abortion” voters.
So let’s allow that abortion is a medical procedure that should be regarded as a last resort. What practical steps toward reducing the need for the abortion option should we take immediately?
Just off the top of my head:
1) Eliminate “abstinence only” sex education. This policy is a blight. Not only should it be eliminated it should probably be outlawed. Any schools or districts that use an abstinence only curriculum should lose any state and federal funding. It is that harmful.
2) Give parents real tools for frank sex ed at home that can be reinforced in school. Parents need to take some responsibility and give their children the vocabulary and tools to deal with sex in age appropriate ways. The federal government should publish a no nonsense series that helps parents talk about contraception and lower risk sexuality activities such as petting and masturbation.
3) Stop TV’s “Rachael and Ross” from having a baby in episode 5 only for it to vanish by episode 9. Oh, I can hear my fellow liberals say that I am trying to legislate morality and impose my views on everybody – but it is not morality, this is a public health crisis. Just as you would not find a character on TV shooting heroin on day and going on with their life the next – neither should children be exposed to characters that they like and admire making babies one day and going on as if it is no big deal the next.
4) Pay girls not to get knocked up. Okay this is shocking, but we need some carrots as well as sticks. So, every girl baby born from today onward would get a $3,000 bond in addition to their birth certificate. That bond would mature in 21 years provided that they did not get pregnant in the meantime. There would be no means testing and the bond would be issued to very single baby girl born in Delaware. Think of it as insurance. The money paid out to the 21 year old childless women would be peanuts compared to what we currently pay to try and stay in front of the healthcare costs of taking care of the babies of babies.
Interesting… Would the girl get the money if she has an abortion?
Well, now, wait a second. If you believe that Democrats should get serious about trying to end abortion, does that not mean you think that there’s something fundamentally wrong with abortion?
After all, if it’s just the removal of some excess tissue, then how is it morally different from trimming your fingernails?
5.) Let the kids back into the mall.
does that not mean you think that there’s something fundamentally wrong with abortion?
It means that I’ll allow that some people feel strongly that there is something fundamentally wrong with abortion – so let’s work together and get it done.
it also means, I think you’ve been taken in by a “pro-life” industry that is more interested in fundraising than in reducing the number of unwanted teen pregancies in the country.
look toward the “pro-life” movement as partners
Unfortunately a sizable chunk of the pro-life movement is Catholics, who are against contraception, and are divided about sex education for kids.
Best way to prevent unwanted pregnancy: better distribution of income. When the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the poor get pregnant.
Bush’s visit to Rome last month was ominous, echoing his June 1994 visit, when he told the Vatican “Some of the bishops are not with us…” Right after Bush’s visit, then-Cardinal Ratzinger pressured the US bishops to deny communion to pro-choice politicians. To their great credit, they refused and left it up to local bishops and individual conscience.
No doubt Bush had a similar conversation last month with his political liaison in Rome, who is now Pope.
This season, neither candidate is Catholic, but look for conservative Catholic PACs and lone bishops to cause some mischief somehow, maybe in Congressional races.
Unfortunately a sizable chunk of the pro-life movement is Catholics, who are against contraception, and are divided about sex education for kids
Well fuck them. Get serious or get out of the way.
Geek –
Yes. But if our “pro-life” partners in this make it a sticking point I’d negotiate.
ALSO….Catholics would welcome the new TV standards – so everybody gets something.
Givc $3000 as an “insurance policy,” just so we don’t have to pay more?
How about we give $1000 to every single child born, put it in a high yield savings account until they are 65. Then they would have a few million to work with for retirement.
WOOT WOOT, screw abortion, I just fixed social security.
Educate the females that swallowing is good!!!
Dana,
Jason’s right. You don’t have to believe abortion is fundamentally wrong in order to believe unwanted pregnancies are an epidemic that needs to be addressed. The problem with this issue is that there are battle lines and no one wants to cross them. The only way this issue gets addressed is by working together to reduce unwanted pregnancies.
You are not getting the Catholic thing.
In official doctrine, “sanctity of life” for the unborn is like a Prime Directive. But voting for any other form of death is up to your conscience, even unjust war, collateral casualties, capital punishment, and social and economic injustice.
The good news is that most US Catholics are basically liberal and don’t know or care about the finer points of the doctrine.
But single-issue Catholics are a significant swing vote, in fact they tipped the 2004 election, as a direct result of Bush’s visit to Rome and the efforts of Cardinal Ratzinger.
echoing his June 1994
(Oops I meant June 2004… this visit tipped the election to Bush).
I like the bond idea, but I think it should be retroactive to 1972. With interest.
is this some kind of attack on my hotness.
I don’t know what stunt you think you are pulling but I don’t need anyone going around and taking away from my “business”
this is war
Unfortunately, this is a battle of wits, and you are unarmed.
Blaming it on TV is fucking ridiculous. Blame it on the teenager’s parents first and deal with that issue.
Parents need to more involved in their kids’ lives and this does not mean dropping off at early morning care and then picking them up at 6 pm. Parents need to know their kids’ friends, teachers and what their doing. In short, parents need to be parents and this will more than help stem teenage pregnancy.
Barefoot,
TV’s ongoing fascination of the state of pregnancy and it’s refusal to contend with implications of it is part of the problem and I’d say a larger part in those families where parents are checked out losers.
Anyway, where did I “blame it” on TV? You seemed to have skipped items 1 & 2 in your rush to exculpate Ross and Rachael.
But what about Equal Protection guarantees? What do boys get?
Yes the girls get 100% the prize – but they also get 100% the penalty if they fail.
When in human history has it not been the girls responsibility?
Oh geez, here we go…
Did I say something wrong?
One can reasonably argue that not getting pregnant is not just the girls responsibility. I would do so, but I have to get on a conference call.
Parents need to more involved in their kids’ lives and this does not mean dropping off at early morning care and then picking them up at 6 pm.
Something tell me you are the same kind of person who also thinks parents should work to support their kids, is opposed to subsidized daycare, and thinks if your job requires you to work to 6pm, if you don’t like it you should work somewhere else.
dang
dis,
boys get a high-five
Barefoot: in many homes the tv is the baby sitter. it’s where kids are learning their most valuable lessons. not sure check out an MTV show….. it’s oozing with morals and values. our kids are exposed to smut on tv, internet and in our schools. kids are dressing sexier and sexier these days and why are they allowed too? when do the parents & schools step in the get control back from the kids and save them from themselves? teen pregnancy’s up. not surprising.
get to work woman!
My point is that TV is an issue, but the problem lies (lays?) with the parents. For instance, should “Two and a Half Men” be watched at 7:30 pm by anyone under 16? Probably not. However, just don’t take away my right to watch it.
Should anyone under 16 be watching Friends? Probably not. The list could go and on.
Mrs. Hot Blogger, as far as MTV goes I cannot imagine a time that it would be allowed on in my house — except for when I am alone.
Parents need to be involved. This is where the issue is when teen pregnancy. And Jason, you touched on only a “frank sex talk”, and being a parent is so much more than that. 😉
jason
I have always agreed with the premise that pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion rights people should work on their agreements rather than their differences.
I don’t agree with the TV thing; you got the v-chip, didn’t you? Aren’t parents using that (heh, heh). Programs do not get watched in my house that haven’t been vetted by a parent; computers do not get used in other than public places with PIR and POS. I take those responsibilities seriously, and I am against the idea that those of us who do take that idea seriously should be footing the bill for a giveaway to those who don’t, or for censorship of the media. Either one gives the government way to much power.
That aside, even if I spotted you the government intrusions for sake of argument, I honestly don’t think they’d work, because what you are talking about here is changing a culture. Cultures don’t turn on a dime, and they generally change from the bottom up rather than by directive from the top.
If I sound negative it’s because I’ve thought through a lot of these ideas (well over half of my students are single parents) for years and never found the silver bullet….
As a Delaware Catholic who has been to Catholic school – we have really no qualms about teaching kids about sex, I don’t know where this idea comes from or how much you think you can teach a kid about sex.
On the topic of abstinence-only eduction – have you ever met a kid who has had only abstinence-only education? I think that phrase gets batted around a lot but when it comes don’t to it I’ve never met anyone my age or otherwise who has been the recipient of an abstinence-only curriculum.
As per that anon going after the Church – where are you getting your information? And what makes you think the pro-Life movement is made up mostly of Catholics? Have you ever been to the march for life, or hell, taken a look at the pro-life organizations in Delaware?
where are you getting your information?
Wake up dude:
nytimes.com/2004/06/13/politics/13george.html
nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/pfw061104.htm
lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jun/04061709.html
And what makes you think the pro-Life movement is made up mostly of Catholics?
Didn’t say most. But since you asked…
Their membership:
aroseandaprayer.org/speakers.php
and their activities: (2006):
The Delaware Pro-Life Coalition will hold its 19th annual convention at the Holiday Inn Select in Claymont, Delaware on April 1. This year’s convention, “Reclaiming the Truth: A Defense of True Science,” will feature Steve Mosher (president of the Population Research Institute), Donald DeMarco, Ph.D. (professor of philosophy at the University of St. Jerome’s College in Ontario Canada), Dr. Paul Schenck (executive director of Gospel of Life Ministries and pastoral associate at Priests for Life), Austin Ruse (president of Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute) and Dottie Ireton (host of public access television program Counterpoint). The banquet speaker will be Congressman Chris Smith.
“The penis is inserted into the vagina; stuff comes out; 9 months later you’ll have a screaming, shitting, eating, & barfing flesh machine that will suck your bank account and social life dry!”
Feel free to print and distribute to all students everywhere!
vC as beautiful (and accurate) as it is, it fails for the same reason that the death penalty fails as a deterrent:
Teenagers are (a) immortal and (b) omniscient.
It ain’t going to happen to them, so why worry about the consequences.
Now, jason, I’ve thought of an extension of government power I could get behind. We provide a free barrel and nails to the parents of every teenage boy in America. (I’ve certainly had a lot less trouble since sealing the one in my son’s room, and with the internet he can keep up on schoolwork.)
Anon
There are lots of Catholics in the anti-abortion movement, which makes sense considering they belong to the largest Christian denomination in America.
But the overwhelming majority of American Catholics have quietly parted with Rome on issues like artificial reproduction, contraception, and even abortion. Of course you’re not going to find that in the published literature….
Which is why you need to hang out a some parishes and join some discussion groups.
Talk about eye-openers.
I know, Steve!
😉
Wish it was that easy!
But the overwhelming majority of American Catholics have quietly parted with Rome on issues like artificial reproduction, contraception, and even abortion.
I already stated that earlier in this thread. Your point?
Which is why you need to hang out a some parishes and join some discussion groups.
I am Catholic, graduated from Catholic school, and attend a DE Catholic Church. How do you think I know this stuff?
The fact is that a minority of Catholic voters formed a swing vote that tipped the 2004 election based on demagoguery from Bush and hard-right Catholic demagogues. Bush picked up 5% extra Catholic votes because he and Cardinal Ratzinger stirred the pot over abortion and gay marriage. Not to mention non-Catholic votes that were suckered into that swing vote. No doubt they will try to repeat that trick this year.
…and join some discussion groups.</i
um, what do you think I am doing right now?
I meant inside the church….
If you find me a Church-based discussion group that is openly willing to question the Magisterium over the doctrine that the abortion issue trumps social justice and peace …. I’ll meet you there.
They’re called Unitarians
As per the claim that an overwhelming majority of Catholics have parted with the Church on abortion – do you have any poll numbers on that? Not that polls are everything but I’ve always seen that inside the majority of Americans who want greater restrictions on abortions Catholics are even more pro-life than average.
Actually they are Episcopalians.
But you just proved my point. Conservative Catholics will play the “you’re not Catholic” card at the drop of a hat.
Official doctrine permits Catholics to disagree with the Church on some life issues such as war, capital punishment, and social and economic justice, but not on abortion or certain other life issues.
Re: TV
I’m one of those parents that take seriously my responsibility to raise my children. I’ve used the V-chip (it can also take out Disney made-for-TV movies, btw, since they are largely unrated), I typically don’t let my kids watch a movie I haven’t seen first. I check out the friends and boyfriends. We’ve used filters on our computers for years not just to block websites but to track where our teenager goes and what she says once she gets there.
You know what that got me? My ex (the teenager’s father) thought it was abusive to “spy” on a 15-year-old. So, daughter went to live with father and, needless to say, has gotten into trouble since. Wow! How unexpected!
I tell this to bring up 2 different points about “it’s all the parents’ fault” arguments:
1. If you get divorced, you can’t control, and largely won’t affect, what the other parent does. And if the other parent is trying to get custody, you can bet he/she will say and do whatever it takes to get the kid to live with them, whether it includes watching slasher movies at 12 or having a BF in the bedroom at 16.
2. You can control what happens in your own home. You cannot control what other people allow in theirs. I’m not just talking about the kids that your kid wants to play with, but also just the kids that your kid will come in contact with at school, daycare, or out in the real world. There are lots of shows I would never allow my children to watch, lots of games I wouldn’t allow them to play, and lots of music I wouldn’t let them listen to. But other parents don’t mind these things and their children tell my children about them, thereby exposing them to all the things I’ve tried to keep from them. So, please. Don’t just blanketly blame parents for some of these choices. Many times, the problems are caused by others.