Nobody is in favor of
abortions. Really nobody. It is impossible to find a single responsible
person who has stated that abortions are a good thing, that a woman should go
out and have one for the pure joy of the experience. Rather the argument is over abortion rights
and who, the individual or the government should control women’s bodies.
Now a new study has confirmed
what anybody with a modicum of common sense already knew. That is that if women have access to low cost or free
family planning services the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions will
be reduced.
An experimental
project that gave free birth control to more than 9,000 teen girls and women in
one metropolitan area resulted in a dramatic decrease in abortions and teen
pregnancies, a new study shows.
It wasn't just the
"free" part that led to rates far below national averages,
researchers say. They also credit the long-acting highly effective methods of
contraception chosen by 75% of the participants – namely intrauterine devices
(IUDs) and hormonal implants.
Okay, nothing new here, move along. But the lingering question remains. Why aren’t those persons who are so adamant
about stopping abortions equally adamant about making family planning services
and birth control available to the maximum amount of the population?
The answer here is
very evident. These people are not
just opposed to abortion, they also want to control women’s lives, to make
women live the way they want them to live and to behave the way they want them
to behave. The strong evidence that
contraception prevents abortions, and the strong position of anti-abortion
rights advocates to deny women contraception is demonstrable proof that control of women's lifestyles is what they really seek. And it is very sad, because
neither side is served by the strident, ugly attacks on women’s rights by those
who would use fear and force and government control to impose their views on
others.
No comments:
Post a Comment