It seems to me there are two ways to go around stopping abortion. One’s controversial and, often, morally suspect, all too often murderous, and… astonishingly ineffective. The other is surprisingly uncontroversial, ethically sustainable, possibly very effective… and largely underutilized by abortion opponents. Curious? Here’s a hint.
Doctors at a Glasgow hospital analyzed the birth control attempted by nearly 1,000 women requesting abortions.
They found the proportion of older women who had used no contraception at all was roughly similar to the percentage of teenagers.
...
Some had experienced a contraceptive failure, such as a burst condom, or had fallen pregnant despite taking oral contraceptives.
However, a large proportion had become pregnant following sex without any attempt at contraception.
In all, 57% of the teenagers had not used contraception, and 51% of the older women – and this small difference was not statistically significant.
57% of adolescents, 51% of older women seeking abortions used no contraception. Got that? If you’re opposed to abortion it’s got to be disturbing you that more than half of the women seeking abortions couldn’t use or wouldn’t use contraception in order to avoid needing one. I mean, look at me, I’m not morally opposed to abortion but I’m bothered by those numbers so I know it’s got to be causing you a lot of anguish.
Fortunately there’s something you can do about it.
If you’re an abortion opponent chances are very good you or someone you know also supports Abstience-Only education, and you’re probably aware that those education programs are carefully designed to leave students as ignorant of contraception as humanly possible. Which, you gotta admit, doesn’t appear to be working.
So. Next time you feel like doing something about abortion, how about sharing your concerns with colleagues, parents, educators, and sex-ed curriculum developers who oppose serious, responsible, and effective instruction in contraception. Let them know that more than half of all abortions stem from their educational strategies and that that they too should start acting responsibly.
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Note: Of course some abortions were needed despite efforts to employ contraception. Here too abortion opponents could really help. First, contraceptives are often difficult to understand and use correctly. That’s another excellent argument in favor of forcefully supporting meaningful technical sex instruction. Second, since some number of abortions result from correctly used but insufficiently reliable contraception. If you’re an abortion opponent you should find that particularly disturbing. It would really help if you could help lobby for better research and development into contraception that’s not only easy to use correctly but is also more reliable.
The bottom line, though, is that if you’re seriously concerned about abortion you can have a real impact on the number of abortions performed by throwing your support, with all the very real passion you’re able to bring to the issue, behind promoting safe, effective, affordable, easy to administer, and readily available contraception, and by supporting meaningful education and outreach to promote its use.
When it comes to how to deal with unplanned, unwanted pregnancies, pro-choice and anti-abortion people have been adversaries. But before the fact we can find a great deal of common ground. There’s no reason we can’t work together to prevent the unplanned, unwanted pregnancies that lie at the heart of our major disagreements.
I’m just sayin’
Submitted by 1177 (not verified) on Wed, 2007-01-31 23:16.
Maybe we could all just walk around handing out condoms and educational pamphlets - I feel like the information just isn't getting out there!!!
Less anti-drug adverts on TV, and more "this is how a condom works, this is why you need it" ads.
ARG!
[I think that would help. I *also* think it would help if *other* people weren't wandering around saying "if people used those things they might have sex." What they *really* need to be saying is "If people used those things they *might not need abortions!*" Thanks, Shay. --fl]
Submitted by 1177 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-02-01 01:15.
The awful thing about this piece of research (well there were several things but I'll leave that for a minute) is that the Government launched the National Teenage Pregnancy Strategy in 1999 and set up the cross-departmental Teenage Pregnancy Unit. The survey was done in 2004/2005 so many of these women, even some above the age of 20, should have had the benefit of effective instruction. So why hasn't it worked?
Apparently another finding from the research is that nurse-led clinics are less threatening to women patients than traditional doctor-patient consultations. That doesn't seem to have exercised minds as much as this arbitrary split of the population into teenagers and "older women".
[There are 10,000 reasons why we fail to use contraceptioin and/or fail to use it correctly. Back when I did peer councelling with young people the #1 top-of-the-chart-with-a-bullet reason was alcohol or drug intoxication, and there's no reason to believe those numbers have gone down a bit, regardless of age. Number two was hassle, general availability, and whether it was ready-to-hand. And overlaid over that was the ongoing themes that a) it's not as romantic, b) it's not as spontaneous, and c) it implies you planned in advance to have sex. Consequently I really wish abortion opponents would join contraception advocates to lobby for development of safe, affordable, reliable, and long-term non-barrier methods. Thanks, A. --fl]
Submitted by 1177 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-02-01 08:46.
I think the issue here is that a lot of the folks who don't believe in the right to choose also don't believe in contraception. To them, abstinence is the only way. I guess since we don't agree with them, everyone has to suffer? I wish I could understand this mindset, but I don't.
[See, I actually disagree that *most* people who oppose abortion also oppose contraception. The anti/anti folks are certainly the most motivated, and they set a lot of the agenda. But while they're the squeakiest wheels for sure they don't speak for the majority. I'm pretty sure if we gave the majority a clear path to contraceptive success they'd be more than happy to pull in that direction. *Especially* since, unlike abstinence-only scare tactics and misleading dodges, even contemporary contraception works wonders. And I'd *really* like their help agitating for even safer, more reliable, easier to get and use, and less expensive contraceptive technology. Thanks, WG. --fl]
Submitted by 1177 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-02-01 12:51.
I think at the heart of this matter is not a group of people who are vehemently opposed to abortion, as they would like us to believe, but instead a group of people who are vehemently opposed to women having any form of sexual freedom.
Sexual freedom afforded to us by contraceptives and in some instances abortions.
Making abortion illegal will not stop abortions all it will do is cause women, who cannot afford to travel or pay exorbitant prices, to seek 'back alley' abortions or try to abort on their own.
This is not about the unborn if it were these same "right to life" advocates would be concerning themselves with affordable or free prenatal care for all women or preventing pregnancies by educating men and women about contraceptives. This is about bodily freedom.
Submitted by 1177 (not verified) on Thu, 2007-02-01 14:52.
true true.. but sadly still anti abortionists tend to target sex education and are against any form of contraception. i don't understand. and it makes my heart and uterus ache. not to mention my head.
[But I'm just going to keep asking if that's true till someone comes along and makes it *not* true for all but the hardest of the hard-core flat-earther abortion opponents. Thanks, Keda. --fl]
Submitted by 1177 (not verified) on Fri, 2007-02-02 03:02.
It is interesting to read the commentary on the politics of sex in the US. We don't seem to have such a prominent debate here and I believe that abortions are legal and easy to obtain.
Figleaf, you know my view, I support contraception 200% and am pro all sorts of life and support parents and children.
....I don't want to live in a world where women find they have to choose between their unborn children and being able to keep their good name, marry well, finish school, have a career and support their other children.
I saw a girl choose between giving birth to a baby she would have wanted in other circumstances and being accepted by her very conservative community (and working to support her siblings and mother). It was not nice ... I asked her to speak with her mother, give her a chance to help her, but she said the shame would be too much to bear.
It would be very nice to cut the number of abortions by 50% by avoiding pregnancy in the first place!
[Actually it would be even better to cut it 100% by avoiding pregnancy in the first place. Barring that it would be nice to have a society that looked at children as everyone's posterity rather than the individual mother's "wages of sin." And provided all the moral, financial, and social support needed to help them renew all of humanity if that's the route they preferred to take. And, of course, to support them just as thorougly when they simply *don't want to have children!* At least here in the States I don't really see nearly enough people approaching the issue in whole-system terms. We're continuing to draw our lines in highly unproductive places. Thanks, Avalon. --fl]
Submitted by 1177 (not verified) on Sat, 2007-02-03 04:39.
"development of safe, affordable, reliable, and long-term non-barrier methods"
But all of it (IUCD, IUS, implants, contraceptive injections) is available in Glasgow, indeed anywhere in the UK and still the teenage pregnancy rate is the highest in Europe, and particularly so in south west Glasgow. It's an area of high unemployment, overcrowded housing etc. so there are social aspects to the problem there.
The French government too has been concerned about teenage pregnancy and abortions but has had more success in dealing with it. France is much more open about sexuality and there is no problem with sexually explicit campaigns (in fact for all sorts of things). I can't imagine this advertisement for condoms would ever be shown on television in the UK. I love it!
Sorry, I could go on about this for hours. I'll stop now.
[Don't stop now, A. I could talk about it all day too. Bottom line is we just gotta realign the factions in the debate so that a big chunk of anti-abortion folks are more invested in contraception than pro-choice folks are. It's *in their interest* since by definition they don't have a fallback position when contraception fails. I really want to work on that. Thanks! --fl]
Submitted by 1177 (not verified) on Sun, 2007-03-11 05:28.
Most experts recommend combining methods of contraception. The women's pill + a condom + spermicide, for example. Imagine the effectiveness of the women's pill + the men's pill! WBR LeoP
[I imagine it often, D. I think it's a wonderful idea! Thanks. --fl]