MYTH : In 1973, the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision made abortion legal for the first time in American history.
FACT : Abortion has been performed for thousands of years, and in every society that has been studied. It was legal in the United States from the time the earliest settlers arrived on our shores until the mid- to late 1800's, when states began passing laws that made it illegal. Although a few states had liberalized their abortion laws in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the right to have an abortion was finally made available to all American women when the Supreme Court ruling in 1973 struck down the remaining restrictive state laws.
MYTH : The founding fathers never intended for abortion to be allowed in the United States.
FACT : At the time the Constitution was adopted, abortions before "quickening" (the stage of pregnancy when the mother can feel fetal movement in the womb) were openly advertised and commonly performed. Abortion was something that the founding fathers would have been aware of, and presumably, they would not have remained silent about it if they had intended for the government to involve itself in this aspect of the private lives of its citizens.
MYTH : In the 1800's, abortion was outlawed because it was so dangerous.
FACT : During this time in history, all surgical procedures, including abortion, were extremely risky. Hospitals were not common, antiseptics were unknown, and even the most respected doctors had only primitive medical educations. Without the technology that we take for granted today, maternal and infant mortality rates during childbirth were extraordinarily high. The dangers from abortion were similar to the dangers from other surgeries that were not outlawed.
As scientific methods began to dominate medical practice, and technologies were developed to prevent infection, medical care on the whole became much safer and more effective. But by this time, the vast majority of women who needed abortions had no choice but to get them from illegal practitioners without these medical advances at their disposal. The "back-alley" abortion remained a dangerous, often deadly procedure, while areas of legally sanctioned medicine improved dramatically.
MYTH : Abortion was outlawed because it is immoral.
FACT : The motivations for anti-abortion laws varied from state to state, and included fears that soon the population would be dominated by the children of newly arriving immigrants, whose birth rates were higher than those of "native" Anglo-Saxon women. But the strongest force behind the drive to criminalize abortion was the attempt by doctors to establish for themselves exclusive rights to practice medicine. They wanted to prevent "untrained" practitioners, including midwives, apothecaries, and homeopaths, from competing with them for patients and for patient fees.
The best way to accomplish their goal was to eliminate one of the principle procedures that kept these competitors in business. Rather than openly admitting to such motivations, the newly formed American Medical Association (AMA) argued that abortion was both immoral and dangerous. This campaign was successful, and by 1910, all but one state had criminalized abortion except where necessary, in a doctor's judgment, to save the woman's life. In this way, legal abortion was successfully transformed into a "physicians-only" practice.
The prohibition of legal abortion from the 1880s until 1973 came under the same anti-obscenity or Comstock laws that prohibited the dissemination of birth control information and services. It is noteworthy that obscenity, abortion, and contraception should be so linked at a time when society deemed women incapable of making legally and socially responsible decisions and the law classified any attempts of women to make reproductive choices as unacceptable.
MYTH : During the period when abortion was illegal, abortion was effectively outlawed and the safety of pregnant women was ensured.
FACT : Criminalization of abortions did not reduce the numbers of women who sought abortions. In the years before Roe v. Wade, the estimates of illegal abortions ranged as high as 1.2 million per year1, although, of course, no accurate records could be kept of illegal procedures. What is known is that between the 1880s and 1973, many thousands of women died or suffered serious medical problems after attempting to self-induce their abortions or going to untrained practitioners who performed abortions with primitive methods or in unsanitary conditions. During this time, hospital emergency room staff treated thousands of women who either died or were suffering terrible effects of abortions provided without adequate skill and care.
It should be noted that during this time some women obtained relatively safer, although still illegal, abortions from private doctors.
This practice remained prevalent for the first half of the twentieth century. Later, the rate of reported abortions began to decline, partly because doctors faced increased scrutiny from their peers and hospital administrators concerned about the legality of their operations.
Today, pro-choice advocates who fight for continued access to safe, legal abortion for all women often are motivated by their understanding of the consequences of criminalized abortion. We know from history that whenever abortion has been illegal, women have still attempted and succeeded in ending unwanted pregnancies. Unfortunately, they have often suffered serious health problems or died in the process. While the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was an important turning point in protecting women from unsafe abortion, an understanding of the pre-Roe v. Wade years is critical for making intelligent public policy decisions regarding reproductive health care in the future.
Holy War....You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend. - Richard Jeni
MYTH : Women who don't wish to be pregnant should not have sex.
FACT : Women, including teenage girls, while knowing the risks involved with being sexually active, continue to do so anyway. Often this results in sexually transmitted disease and unwanted pregnancies. Should the right to have a legal abortion be taken away from these women, they will find a way to terminate their pregnancy with other means, including but not limited to: Back alley abortions - done by inexperienced practitioners that results in severe infection and often death of the woman. Drug Overdose - not always causing the abortion of the fetus, often causing birth defects, hospitalization of the woman and death.
You can argue that women shouldn't have sex if they don't want to get pregnant, hence abortion should be illegal and so should premarital sex. But isn't that kind of like limiting the rights for women to make choices about their personal lives? Why don't we just return to the days when women didn't have the right to vote. How about taking a few steps BACK in the evolution of society instead of forward?
Holy War....You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend. - Richard Jeni
people can have premarital sex if they want. But if they get pregnant, I don't want to hear anybody complaining.
a fetus has different DNA, and therefore is not part of a woman's body.
should it be illegal? I don't know. It's really more practical to have it be legal, but I only say this because I believe the law should not venture into morality. I don't know if I'd call it murder, but it's certainly immoral (excluding cases of rape or the mother's life being in danger). But making it illegal is not taking away a woman's right to choose. God forbid people be responsible for their actions.
Dekka00 said this in post #4 : people can have premarital sex if they want. But if they get pregnant, I don't want to hear anybody complaining.
a fetus has different DNA, and therefore is not part of a woman's body.
should it be illegal? I don't know. It's really more practical to have it be legal, but I only say this because I believe the law should not venture into morality. I don't know if I'd call it murder, but it's certainly immoral (excluding cases of rape or the mother's life being in danger). But making it illegal is not taking away a woman's right to choose. God forbid people be responsible for their actions.
I like that last line. I respect that argument.
However I do disagree that making it illegal doesn't take away a woman's right to choose. Women should be able to have an abortion in a safe environment. It shouldn't be up to the government or any one else to prohibit them from doing so.
It is a private and personal matter that shouldn't be left in the hands of politicians who are more concerned with their polls than with a woman's health.
Holy War....You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend. - Richard Jeni
If the use of condoms was promoted in school, along with abstinence, it would severly limit pregnancy/abortion. It's not promoting sex, just realizing that abstinence doesn't work in all cases.
However I do disagree that making it illegal doesn't take away a woman's right to choose. Women should be able to have an abortion in a safe environment. It shouldn't be up to the government or any one else to prohibit them from doing so.
It is a private and personal matter that shouldn't be left in the hands of politicians who are more concerned with their polls than with a woman's health.
What about the baby's right to choose? What did he/she do wrong? What crime/sin did he/she commit? How did he/she exercise his/her freedom of choice?
Seems to me like abortion ALWAYS has an unwilling participant -- the baby.
Legalized abortions may have made it safer for the woman -- but it's as deadly as ever for the baby!
If a woman finds herself in a situation where she doesn't want to have the baby she is carrying, she can put the baby up for adoption.
If her life is in danger, then she can choose to take the risk or defend herself against her baby. But, short of that, in my opinion, she has NO RIGHT to end her baby's life.
MYTH: A woman has the right to do what she wants with her body.
FACT: It's not her body that's getting ripped out and ripped apart -- it's the baby's.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (New Testament, King James version)
Marlene Newell said this in post #12 : Legalized abortions may have made it safer for the woman -- but it's as deadly as ever for the baby!
So what are they supposed to do? Revert back to backalley abortions?
Or raise them knowing they cant afford them?
Or give them up for adoption and have all these kids in foster care and in orphanages because no one can adopt them because they cant afford them also?
We would have messed up children all over the place because they have no stable homes...
Its hard enough and expensive enough to raise kids much less bring ones into the world that you didnt want in the first place.
men run out on pregnant woman everyday and wont support them...
But we are supposed to let a government decide what to do with our own bodies? I dont think so!!!!!!
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
mystic said this in post #14 :
<<< So what are they supposed to do? Revert back to backalley abortions? >>>
No, bring them up and allow them to live. In foster care, in orphans, in adoption homes. Why kill babies for want of convenience?
<<< Or raise them knowing they cant afford them? >>>
Then let someone with means and love who would be their surrogate parents. The kids deserve a life, if the parents can't afford it or find it in their heart to share it with them.
<<< Or give them up for adoption and have all these kids in foster care and in orphanages because no one can adopt them because they cant afford them also? >>>
Show me where all these kids in transient homes are NEVER adopted at some time in their life? Perhaps they go from home to home until finding a good match. At least they're still alive and have A CHANCE of living. Your absolute solution is irreversible.
<<< We would have messed up children all over the place because they have no stable homes... >>>
The messed up children and no stable homes could be simply because of undesirable characteristics, like physical and mental disabilities, color and race perhaps. There are more from certain groups and the imbalance isn't the fault of the children, but irresponsible parents. Perhaps more charitable organizations could be the temporary solution to raise them until of legal age. Then they can become productive citizens once grown and find a mate who will love them, despite loss of childhood love.
<<< Its hard enough and expensive enough to raise kids much less bring ones into the world that you didnt want in the first place. >>>
Kids in Romania, Korea and China have great adoption programs for unwanted births. These programs save lives, not kill them.
<<< men run out on pregnant woman everyday and wont support them...>>>
Then hold the men equally accountable. Make them care for the child for nine months afterward if mom doesn't want to. If neither, then to some adoption agency or foster care.
<<< But we are supposed to let a government decide what to do with our own bodies? I dont think so!!!!!! >>>
The government must protect everyone equally. Only as to where a crime is involved or where to save a life while being disputed as to what is right and wrong. There is no protection for the unborn nor their voices heard.
01-22-2004 08:02 PM
I appreciate that.
