FACTORS THAT INCREASE OR
DECREASE THE ABORTION RATE
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Social, medical and other factors that increase or decrease the abortion rate:
Some social, educational, and other factors decrease or increase the abortion
rate by altering the numbers of unwanted pregnancies. Other factors affect the
abortion rate by making a pregnant woman more or less likely to seek an
abortion.
We have a hunch that the vast majority of adults in North America who
would like to see the abortion rate reduced, could be far more effective if they
focused their effort on
changing some of these factors, rather than by attempting to pass restrictive
legislation, or demonstrating at abortion clinics:
 | Sex-education:
 | Decreases abortion rate: The percentage of students in public
schools who receive some form of sex-education has been increasing over
the past few decades. Studies have shown that sex-ed tends to defer
sexual activity among students. This reduces the number of unwanted
pregnancies and thus the need for abortions. |
| Increases rate: There is a movement towards
sex-education that heavily stresses abstinence until marriage. If
abstinence is the only message taught, then those students who decide to
become sexually active will not receive information from the sex-ed
course on how to prevent
conception. This may increase the number of unwanted abortions and thus
the number of abortions sought by this group. Of course, many students will obtain
contraceptive information from other sources of information: family
planning clinics, the Internet, movies, TV programs, etc. |
|
| Scare tactics:
| Decreases rate: Some pro-life groups have been spreading
unfounded rumors that abortions are dangerous, often lead to
breast cancer, often cause
permanent infertility, etc. In fact, the
death rate from legal abortions performed in clinics is much lower than
the maternal fatality rate giving birth. That is, it is safer for the
woman to have an abortion than to proceed to a live birth. There is no generally
accepted evidence that
breast
cancer is caused by abortion. The danger of an improper abortion that
leads to infertility is very small. |
|
| Time interval between puberty and marriage:
| Increases rate: In the past in North America, and in some
other countries of the world today, the time interval between puberty and
marriage was measured in weeks or months. Puberty is now occurring at
younger ages, and the average age for first marriages is gradually
increasing. As a result, the interval between puberty and marriage is
now on the order of 15 years. During this time, the vast majority of
women become sexually active and risk unwanted pregnancy. Thus, they are
more liable to seek an abortion. |
|
| Financial support for single mothers:
| Increases rate: Welfare payments in the past were increased
with the birth of each baby. However, many states now cap payments so
that the family's standard of living decreases with each birth. Faced
with the choice of a lower standard of living or an abortion, many women
will chose the latter. |
|
| Cost of abortions:
| Decreases rate: "Since the 1970's, the federal government
and most states have severely restricted Medicaid funding for abortion.
As a result, low-income women -- who are disproportionately women of
color -- often find it difficult or impossible to obtain safe, legal
abortions." 1 |
|
| Availability of abortion services:
| Decreases rate: By 1999, 86% of all counties in the U.S. had
no known abortion provider, and only 12% of obs/gyn residency programs
required training in first-trimester abortions. Many abortion clinics
are picketed by pro-life groups, making access more difficult. |
|
| Alternatives to risky behaviors:
| Decreases rate: There is a little-studied phenomenon that has
recently surfaced among sexually-active youth. Some couples are increasingly
engaging in various physical activities that do not involve
penile-vagina intercourse
-- including massage, cuddling, fondling, oral sex,
mutual masturbation, etc. |
|
| Emergency contraception:
| Decreases rate: "EC" is available in some locations
and at some times during the week. These pills help women who have had unprotected intercourse
prevent the start of a pregnancy. If all fertile women were aware of the
medication, if all pharmacies honored physicians' prescriptions for
emergency contraception, and if women kept a stock of EC on hand, then
the unwanted pregnancy rate would be greatly decreased. Some sources
estimate that the abortion rate could be halved with proper education.
However, most women are not aware that EC exists. Also, some pharmacies like the
Wal-Mart chain in the U.S. and Canada refuse to
stock EC. |
| Increases rate: Many pro-lifers have a different definition of
pregnancy. They believe that it happens at conception. Since EC can
sometimes prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum in the wall of
the uterus, some pro-lifers believe that EC is an abortifacient. Thus,
with their definition of terms, use of EC increases the abortion rate. |
|
| Childless families:
| Increases rate: Some women have decided to remain childless
(either for now, or for their entire life). This is more common today as
women enter the workforce, seeking a long-term career. If they
inadvertently become pregnant, they are more likely to want to terminate
the pregnancy. |
|
| One & two child families:
| Increases rate: Many women and their partners have decided to
have one or two children during their lifetime. They are keen to have
"perfect" babies, and may be more likely to choose to have an abortion
if they suspect that the developing embryo or fetus may be genetically
defective. Techniques of Pre-implantation genetic
diagnosis may be used to detect genetic defects. |
|
| Genetically-related couples:
| Increases rate: These are typically first cousins. They
sometimes seek abortions because of concerns that their baby will be
born with a genetic defect because of the similarities in the parents'
DNA. According to a 2002 study, an unrelated couple has a three to four
percent risk of having a baby with a birth defect, significant mental
retardation or genetic disease. The study found that first cousins run
an additional risk of 1.7 to 2.8%. Some couples would consider this
increase an acceptable risk, if they knew its magnitude. 2,3
|
|
References:
- "The right to choose: A fundamental liberty," American Civil
Liberties Union, at:
http://www.aclu.org/library/RightChoose2000.pdf You need software to read these files. It can be obtained free from:
- "Kissing cousins get the okay," Associated Press, 2002-APR-3.
Published in the Toronto Star, 2002-APR-4, Page A1.
- Robin Bennett, article in Journal of Genetic Counseling,
published by the National Society of Genetic Counselors.
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Copyright 2002
to 2006 by Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2006-FEB-26
Author: B.A. Robinson
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