Conservatives and Black Market Abortion

Director of Water Scribe

We don’t have the power to stop abortion. However, the process of terminating a pregnancy illegally will be more dangerous for the working class or someone struggling financially than the wealthy. Abortion will always be accessible to the upper class who can afford to go wherever it’s done legally, even if they publicly profess anti-abortion sentiments.

Arguments opposing anti-abortion beliefs often fall short of changing minds. Clarifying the difference between a cluster of cells and a person hasn’t settled the question. The legal problems of equating a human being with all stages after conception (i.e. “Will a miscarriage become involuntary manslaughter?”) do little to dissuade those would deny access to abortion. Oppressively obliging a woman to change her whole life and become an incubator against her wishes due to an unwanted conception hardly makes some pro-life advocates blink even in the case of rape or incest. Those who believe murder and terminating a pregnancy to be equivalent should seriously consider how keeping abortion legal might bring about less death than would an actual abortion ban.

Comparatively, alcohol prohibition backfired in many unexpected ways and didn’t stop demand or consumption, but many people were poisoned by drinking liquor that was distilled improperly or contained other toxins.  The history of deaths from illegal abortions provides a stronger reason to doubt restrictions advocated by many conservatives. Consider the Republican platform.

 We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.

 We call on the government to permanently ban all federal funding and subsidies for abortion and healthcare plans that include abortion coverage.

 “Republican Mitt Romney favors limits on abortion, though he previously supported access to it. He says Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling establishing abortion rights, should be reversed, which would allow states to ban abortion.” Romney’s running mate Paul Ryan holds  positions on abortion that are even more extreme. He considers rape just another “method of conception.   

 Indeed the World Health Organization calls unsafe abortion “The Silent Pandemic.” Before abortions were legal in the USA, the difference in the estimates of illegal abortions can be explained by the lack of documentation that accompanies illegal actions.

 Estimates of the number of illegal abortions [in the USA] in the 1950s and 1960s ranged from 200,000 to 1.2 million per year.

 As with alcohol the demand can invite a supply and again our past concerning abortion gives us reason to think this will happen. Modern drugs make abortion that much easier.

Abortion Drug Roulette

Laws against abortion force women to seek other solutions for unwanted pregnancy. Let’s not forget the problem that abortion solves. The Texas Tribune recently reported more women are crossing the border to get unregulated abortion drugs in Mexico, often without instruction on how to use these medicines properly.

We have no reason whatever to believe unwanted/unplanned pregnancies will cease. A determined female can end a pregnancy through any available means, Mexican pharmacies, mail order drugs, quack doctors or with her own hand using a hanger or household chemicals and internally inserting a hose. The consequence of such desperate actions can be dreadful. If one woman can reject a fetus without being discovered then that process can be multiplied any number of times. It bears repeating: black market abortions could end far more lives than legal practices currently do and the public would be oblivious. Why? Without access to legal abortion providers the results will be un-tracked and hidden. In other words, the consequences can be the opposite of the intentions of the Right to Life voters. Abortions might actually increase and the ways remaining to document the facts will be only incidents harmful or deadly that are publicly reported.

We should favor REALISTIC SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS, not wishful thinking that pretends they will go away by passing a law that doesn’t address the issue.

“After a decade of largely unrestricted access to abortion, the rate in Switzerland remains stable and is among the lowest in the world.”

Remember, keeping abortion legal and accessible allows us to focus on reducing the need for these procedures by all honest means. In this way, the freedom to access legal abortion works toward pro life advocacy in ways that the restriction can’t. Comprehensive healthcare for women spares the lives and suffering of women who would risk illicit abortion and also allows the public to know how many abortions are performed. This knowledge furthers the interests of those on both sides of the issue who wish to reduce the overall number of abortions and unwanted pregnancies as much as possible. These are solid reasons to vote against those who will restrict legal access to abortion.

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UPDATE: 10/27/2012

Planned Parenthood won a state court ruling blocking Texas from cutting off public funds to its clinics that don’t provide abortion services the day after a federal appeals court refused to hear a related dispute.

Judge Amy Clark Meachum in Austin issued a temporary restraining order hours after the organization sued the state yesterday to void a Texas law that cuts off public funding for affiliates of abortion providers.

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Published by Todd Vickers

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3 replies on “Conservatives and Black Market Abortion”

  1. People can also watch the show “Freakonomics” to understand how the right to abortion significantly decreases the crime rate

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