Don’t panic ladies — abortion is still legal, depending on where you live (and assuming only women can get pregnant).
Despite the U.S. Supreme Court reversing Roe v, Wade, no woman will be more than two states away from a state that permits — some actually encourage — abortion.
Here’s the chart:
I also believe, and will demonstrate, any pregnant woman with half a brain will be able to terminate her pregnancy.
In the interest of honesty, here’s where I stand.
I think abortion is a disgusting procedure, but I would not ban it. Like a majority of Americans, I accept it as a legal procedure within the first two trimesters.
Pew Research says 61% of Americans approve of abortion in the early stages, but that number drops sharply after 26 weeks of pregnancy.
Abortion suppporters like waving wire clothes hangers as if women would resort to that if denied medical abortions. That is a despicable scare tactic. An extremely popular method of contraception is a pill — actually two pills — that induce abortion. The respected Guttmacher Institute reports 54% of abortions are completed using pills rather than surgery.
Here are more facts about abortion from Guttmacher: There were 930,160 American abortions in 2020. Only 9 nations — mostly poor — had a higher rate of abortion.
The highest percentage was in Washington, D.C. (52%), New York (35%), and New Jersey (34%).
More than 60 million abortions have been performed in the U.S. since Roe became law in 1973. Had they not happened, U.S. population now would exceed 400 million.
Women in their 20s accounted for 56.9% of abortions. Women under 20 were 8.7%. Black women were 3.6 times more likely to have an abortion than white women.
The single greatest reason to have an abortion is “not ready for child” (25%), closely followed by “can’t afford a baby” (23%). “Victim of rape” is less than .5%.
42.9% of abortions occur with the first six weeks, followed by 36.4% in 7-9 weeks. That is the vast majority, 79.3%.
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Now, back to the chart.
We know that the highest abortion rate, not surprisingly, occurs in entities — D.C., New York, New Jersey — that have the lowest bar to abortion.
The mayor of New York, and the governors of New Jersey and California already have promised their states will be a sort of abortion sanctuary. Other Blue states will follow. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a $125 million Reproductive Health Package to expand access for women and help prepare for the influx of women from other states seeking reproductive health care.
I believe that no woman with any sense will be denied an abortion, no matter where she lives, no matter what she can pay.
I can’t prove it, but I can demonstrate it.
Almost immediately after Roe was overturned, 18 of America’s largest corporations announced they would pay travel costs for employees seeking an abortion. Without question, others will join them and some employers will pick up other costs, while the procedure will be provided for free for women of minimal means.
The abortion industry — led by Planned Parenthood — has extremely deep pockets.
Why would employers be so nice to their employees?
Many reasons, but let me share the one put forth by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson who sees more plots than a cemetery groundskeeper.
The employers want employees to remain loyal to the company, and place it over their own parental and biological urges to procreate, one of the strongest drives in the animal kingdom. That’s what he says.
To service the needs of most women, because Americans are entrepreneurial, I foresee the rise of Abortion Vacations.
We already have Birth Tourism.
Thousands of Mainland Chinese pregnant women “vacation” in Saipan, a distant American territory in the Pacific, to give birth — to an American citizen. If their child is born on American soil, they are American citizens under “birthright citizenship,” a policy honored by only 33 nations.
As a parallel to that, I foresee Abortion Vacations.
I imagine a New York City commercial, with a male voice whispering: “Hey, ladies — unwanted pregnancy? Unwanted by some, but not by us. Here’s an idea for a fun weekend in the Big Apple — see a Broadway show, visit the Museum of Modern Art, walk through Central Park and drop your package at one of our fine ‘reproductive rights’ clinics. And you know when we say ‘reproductive,’ we mean ‘nonreproductive,’ right? Special plans available for arrivals by air, train, bus, or car. Low cost, installment payment plans available, and a free Statue of Liberty souvenir. Get it? Liberty!”
Back to reality: I can hear some saying it is not “fair” a pregnant woman should have to travel to terminate a pregnancy.
I could be flip and say, next time, pay more attention to where you make your home. If you don’t like cold, stay out of Montana, and ditto if you want an abortion.
Many people can’t get the surgery they want with the doctor they want at the hospital they want at the time they want. There’s a lot in life that isn’t ”fair.”
I don’t mean to be dismissive, but as bad as you may feel the SCOTUS decision is, chances are it won’t be as bad as you think. It’s actual impact is more inconvenience than anything else.
So, it may be unfair that you — if you are ever in that situation, and I hope that you are not — will have to travel, but the point is that abortion will be available for the foreseeable future.
I’ve always been of 2 minds about abortion. Yes, I think that it should be legal and that women should have the right to make decisions about their bodies and their futures. On the other hand, I have a hard time agreeing with wholesale abortion at will for all. Abortion should be legal and rare and reserved for victims of incest, rape, in the instance of severe fetal abnormalities or where the life of the mother is at stake. I simply do not understand why, in this day and age where there are a plethora of birth control available that there are so many “oops” occurrences. Sure, condoms break, people forget pills, diaphragms shift and so forth. But there are other, virtually 100% effective hormone implants, IUDs and if you already have as many kids as you want, there is vasectomy and tubal ligation. Both the latter are minimally invasive and in the case of financial hardship, Planned Parenthood can help. The important issues are responsibility and accountability AND education, education, education. I am 76 years old and my mother (RIP) did not want more than 2 children. That is all she had because she used condoms. Many people did in the 1950s, hence many did not have more than 2. That wasn’t by happenstance or luck or abstinence. I had a tubal ligation after my last child because I did not want to fool with birth control anymore. Best decision I ever made. I hate to revert to the arguments that I was responsible and so should others be, but again, there are so many options for men and women to not get pregnant, that I just don’t get it. Having said all of that, it galls the hell out of me that men are responsible for pushing the ongoing effort to control women’s bodies. On the print and broadcast news they seem to be in a majority of those protesting against women’s right to self determination.
And I had a vasectomy, which is something men should consider. Many don’t because they stupidly believe it affects virility. It does not.
You mention accountability and responsibility. How terribly old fashioned.
HAPPY SUNDAY !!!
pallie,
I told you before, you just can’t be printing these blogs, when you have so much common sense in them. It takes the useless fight out of the subject matter.
In reading Wanda’s reply, I do agree with most of what she writes. Wanda is the first person ( after me ) to use ‘accountability and responsibility”. Dare I think that there will be a movement ? Could this be ‘Alice’s restaurant, par deau ?”
Does anyone remember, that it wasn’t so long ago, that our esteemed federal government used to PAY women to have babies ? I forget the dollar amount, but you got welfare ‘by the head’ back in the ’70s . Then there’s always the little fact that you DON’T have to be responsible or accountable. Your favorite Uncle Sam will pick up the tab!
sidebar: We were building the Blue Cross tower back in the ’80s. My crew was on break and as usual, everybody had something to say about everything. We had a youngster with us. Just finished his freshman year at college. He couldn’t understand the moral dilemma about the birthrate and the economy. We all tried to explain it to him, but him being a college student already knew it all. UNTILL my buddy joined in the conversation. Ron – a black union construction worker, hit Matt right between the eyes. “You white guys have your 2.2 children and you watch your money so that you can send them to a good school. We have as many kids as we want – and you pay for them ! Matter of fact, you pay for the education, medication and vacation.”. Ron was pretty savvy to the ways of the world. While everyone around him is trying to burn down the city, he’s moving up the union’s ladder. Needless to say. Ron did pretty good for himself.
BTW Does anyone remember India when they had their population explosion, back in the ’70s I think it was ? The Prime Minister ordered vasectomies for everyone after a certain number of births.
Tony
I vaguely remember India sterilizing POOR men. I better remember an Inquirer columnist suggesting any woman (but really thinking Black) should be given a stipend by the government for agreeing to the Norplant birth device, which would be both voluntary and temporary.
He was viciously attacked (by his own) as being racist. I was pretty much alone in defending the idea.
The SAME people who attacked him as racist are the SAME people who support abortion — which falls heaviest on poor and nonwhite women, which means the disproportionate death of millions of Black children.
I could easily argue — some have — that abortion is racist.
Critical thinking would lead critical thinkers to the only correct interpretation of what took place: the SCOTUS did NOT outlaw abortion, it ruled that the law legalizing abortion was unconstitutional. Women still have the right to kill their unborn babies, right up to the babies’ birth. Isn’t that marvelous?
The focus of abortion laws has always been on the women. Perhaps some future day we will at last focus on the babies, and their right to life as guaranteed by the same Constitution that (illegally) allowed the slaughter of 60 million of them since 1972.
God Bless America? Why should He?
One comment: poor people who do not have disposable income will have this fall heavily on their heads. It will be worse if the High Court continues down this ill-advised road and outlaws birth control. I am 100% anti-abortion (for ME) and 100% pro-choice for everyone else so they can make that same decision on their own.
As I mentioned, I am sure nonprofits will step up, along with wealthy individuals.
I’ve been working and hoping for 49 for Roe to be overturned!
Note: most prolifers are women. Like me.