The same hack consultants who imploded the Gore and Kerry campaigns are telling Democratic candidates to back off the abortion issue by copping out to theoretically get elected. Dr. Dean, who as a physician should know better, has even succumbed to this position. Why should we listen to these guys?
So, let's really analyze this cop-out phrase.
Safe
Since abortion was legalized in 1973, it's been safer than childbirth, the obvious alternative. Currently, early abortions are 10-12 times safer than childbirth. Having no legal abortions available would condemn women to the more risky procedure of childbirth, thus harming women's health and killing more women.
If abortion becomes illegal, abortions will still be provided but illegally and unsafely. Illegal abortions are obviously NOT SAFE, and would also do more harm than the current system. So, the only option for SAFE, is to continue the availability of legal abortion as it is. One could even expand this and argue that SAFER would include the government paying for all abortions which would mean that women got abortions earlier and avoided the more risky later abortions.
So, safe is, er...safe.
Abortion opponents don't care about "safety". The Right Wing Noise Machine has a history of debunking science and medical studies. Ronald Reagan started this trend in the 80's by disbanding the Abortion Surveillance Branch of the CDC. You see, in the 70's and 80's this esteemed group of scientists and doctors investigated every abortion related death and complication, studied abortion trends and procedures, and actually improved the status of legalized abortion in this country by giving practitioners guidance on techniques, medicines, etc. Their unbiased and completely scientific reports demonstrated without question the positive public health benefits of legalized abortion. The Reagan administration didn't like this outcome because it didn't fit into their political agenda, so they disbanded this Branch of the CDC. Today, there is a need for an unbiased effort to study outcomes of several infection related abortion pill deaths, but that ability was compromised 25 years ago by a political witch hunt.
If politicians really looked at the science and the statistics, people concerned about the health of women and the safety of abortion vs. childbirth would opt for outlawing childbirth and promoting abortion.
But "safe" in this context also means regulation. And some regulations imposed by the states are not meant to improve the health of women, but are impediments to getting an abortion. They're called TRAP Laws, and they impose burdensome consent and waiting period requirements to name a few. These laws have been passed in almost every state and serve to make abortion less accessible, more expensive, and therefore very "rare" to the form of extinction in some states. Mississippi, North Dakota, and South Dakota boast only one abortion clinic each. And each state has regulated them almost to death.
Legal
Well then if you're committed to abortion remaining LEGAL, why have DLC Democrats embraced candidates such as Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, who ran successfully against anti-abortion wingnut Santorum for the Senate? Casey doesn't want abortion to be LEGAL. He's Democrat Lite or DINO and would vote every time with the Republicans to marginalize abortion even further.
It's amazing how the Republicans have so battered the so-called "Pro-Choice" Republican Senators (Snow, etc.) into always voting anti-abortion.
Anti-abortion Democrats, on the other hand, always always vote anti-abortion.
Obviously, the Republicans are partisan Republicans first and keep their "pro-choice" campaign promises second. Anti-abortion Democrats, however, vote the way they tell their constituents they're going to vote and nevermind that "Democrat" thingy.
Being a Democrat has to mean something. And that something should include legalized abortion, just as it includes equal opportunity, access to healthcare, government accountability, etc.
The Republicans have moved the abortion meme so far to the Right that even moderate positions are considered "pro-abortion". When you really analyze it, the Far Left position would be forced abortion and the Far Right position would be no abortions at all. Therefore, the current position of "Choice" is the moderate centrist position. Politicians who say "I'm personally opposed to abortion, but I wouldn't impose that position on others" are actually being moderate. That's what we should strive for.
Rare
Rare. What is rare? The obvious illusion with this word is that it's better for all of us to work to make abortion less necessary. That means education? That means availability of contraceptives? That means abstinence? What exactly does that mean?
Late D&X abortions were safe and rare. But the hatemongers on the Right changed the discussion and called them "Partial Birth Abortions" and outlawed and criminalized these abortions which were provided to women with hopelessly flawed pregnancies in an attempt to safeguard their fertility. I prefer to call them "Mercy Abortions", and offer this as an example of the Republicans wanting abortion to be not "Safe, Legal, and Rare", but "Never".
Education on birth control and abortion is available everywhere. For 11 years, I've operated a website: AnnRose's Ultimate Birth Control Links. It's a resource about birth control choices aimed at teenagers, but used by all ages. And it's now one of thousands of online sites about birth control. So what does this mean? It means that education is there. Teenagers can all go online and get information on sex, birth control, etc. They don't have to wait for their parents to help them stumble through it or for the school system to talk about the frog's reproductive system.
The disconnect comes in actually obtaining birth control. Most insurance plans pay for Viagra so men can get an erection and technically procreate at age 100. Birth control, on the other hand, is rarely paid for by insurance. Currently, the cost of birth control pills in college healthcare centers has skyrocketed out of control, from about $7 per month to about $35/month.
In countries such as France where the national healthcare system pays for birth control and abortions, abortions are rarer. Later abortions are especially rarer because one of the main reasons many women wait is because they can't afford to pay for the abortion or birth control.
Interestingly and ironically enough, many young women get their first dose of sexual and birth control education at the time of their abortion. A bit late, eh? Abortion clinics have always promoted birth control to their patients and it is a core part of the abortion process. Clinic counselors don't say to patients "Would you like to be on birth control?". They say "What birth control would you like to be on?". Birth Control pill manufacturers even recognize that more women are started on the Pill in abortion clinics than in OB-GYN offices or Health Departments.
People aren't stupid. But, people are human. They make mistakes. Mistakes are a part of life. Even though women and men know what they should do to prevent pregnancy, they often take chances and don't do what they're supposed to do according to a perfect worldview.
Couples know they should contracept if they want to have sex and avoid pregnancy.
But, but...the mood was right and:
- I didn't take my pill because I couldn't afford the next pack
- He didn't use condoms because the feeling's not there
- I didn't want to stop and put in the diaphragm
- He didn't want me to use the IUD because he could feel the string
- I didn't have time to contracept because he raped me
- He said he'd pull out in time
Come on now tell me the truth.
Have you ever had unprotected sex when you didn't want a pregnancy to occur? Yes you. I mean you.
Come on now, think back. Just that one time. Just that one "risky" experience that could have led to an unplanned pregnancy and ended in unplanned childbirth or abortion. Just that desperate groping as a teenager that could have changed your life.
Just that one time when you (or your girlfriend/wife/one-night-stand) were late for your period. Remember the jolt in the stomach? The fear? The "what-ifs"?
Think back now. I'm waiting.
So, the bottom line is that all of you reading this (and people in general) are risk-takers. Risk-taking behavior has nothing to do with education.
People know they should exercise and eat right. But, sometimes they choose not to.
How about you?
People know they shouldn't smoke. But, sometimes they choose to smoke.
How about you?
People know they should use their seatbelts. But, sometimes they choose not to.
How about you?
People know they shouldn't drink and drive. But, sometimes they choose to smoke.
How about you?
People know they should use birth control if they're having sex and don't want a pregnancy to occur.
But, sometimes they choose not to.
How about you?
The benefits of not contracepting (or not exercising, or not smoking, etc.) outweigh the perceived risks. People are therefore human and make decisions which lead to risky behavior and unwanted outcomes.
So, how rare?
In comparison to the number of pregnancies in this country, abortion is at the same time "rare" and ingrained in the fabric of American life.
Rare in that only approximately 1.3 million abortions are performed in the US per year. I'm surprised that number isn't higher.
Not so rare that over 40 Million Americans have opted for legal abortion in the past 34 years.
Over 40 million women have had legal abortions since 1973.
Over 40 million men have donated sperm to these legal abortions.
Over 40 million friends, family, clergy, etc. have supported these women.
That's over 100 million Americans that have benefited from the legalized abortion system. That's fully 1/3 of the population of the United States of America.
So I summarize to the Democratic Party and Democratic Politicians:
There are an estimated 20 million Evangelical Christians controlling the moral agenda of the Republican Party.
There are over 100 million Americans experienced with legalized abortion that you should not marginalize.
In any group of 100 people at a church gathering, potluck dinner, sports event, political rally, social function, etc., at least half have had direct experience with abortion. Don't talk down to those men and women by berating them and saying that what they did should be "rare". What they did was OK and it's not for you to judge. "Rare" implies that they are not in the mainstream. That they are out of the ordinary. Not true.
Here's what a politician (or anybody) should say when asked your position on abortion:
"There are over 100 million Americans who have benefited from legalized abortion and I'm not going to second guess them. I think abortion is personal, private and should not be bantered about on the political stage. I trust women and men to make decisions about their families without governmental intrusion. There are many other issues such as education, gas prices, the War in Iraq, healthcare, the environment, etc. that Americans tell me they're worried about. Abortion is not one of them, and again I will not second guess the American public. I will not consider abortion to be an issue that needs to take up the government's time until these other more important issues are solved for the American public."
Conclusion
The Republicans will always try to make abortion, gay marriage, immigration, etc. the scapegoats in the 2008 election.
If the Democrats win, it'll be because they don't marginalize abortion.
If the Democrats lose, it'll be because those pesky abortionists wouldn't go away and messed up their Grand Plan.
If the Republicans win, it'll be because Americans want abortion to be outlawed.
If the Republicans lose, it'll be because the majority of Republicans are sick and tired of this issue coming up and co-opting the real conservative business agenda.
Both parties wish this issue would just go away from the national stage. It's a no-win issue for both and I think it has played out.
34 Years.
34 Years of legalized abortion in this country.
100 Million Americans have already voted.
Give it a rest.
Get it off of the national stage and out of the political process.
Focus on the real issues Americans want government to solve.
Abortion is personal. It's private. It's individual. It's none of your business.
If you're against abortion, don't have one. Period.
Otherwise:
"Abortion should be Safe, Legal, Rarely Used, and Universally Available"
