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You all are aware that condoms have a higher failure rate, even when used properly, than other forms of BC, right? They protect from a lot of STI's, so, I mean I'm not belittling their value. But, other types of BC work better if pregnancy is all you're worried about.
But FYI, there are many many places that give away free condoms.
Free condoms are certainly a first step. But I'm talking more about long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). When Colorado started offering it for free, the unplanned pregnancy rate dropped by 40% and the abortion rate dropped by 42%.
I never had a problem getting cheap, easy birth control and I've never stepped foot in a PP office.
By the way, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing approach to abortion for most folks. Though personally I would have a hard time justifying an abortion (for myself) for rape, I wouldn't expect or require another woman to continue a pregnancy caused by rape. Same with incest, pregnancies at a very young age, and of course any situation where the mother's life was actually in serious danger.
For instance, I know a woman who had two small kids. She then got pregnant, and during her third pregnancy, she was diagnosed with some sort of weird cancer that pregnancy actually made more aggressive (something to do with hormones). Her doctors told her that she needed an abortion immediately because the cancer would nearly certainly kill her if not treated immediately and the treatment would be fatal to her unborn child.
Now - I would have had an abortion. It would have been a terrible decision for me but that's what I probably would have done. Instead, she chose to protect her unborn child's life. The baby was born via caesarean at about 28 weeks and had to spend several weeks in NICU but she did survive with no long term health issues. The mother lived, against her doctor's prognosis, through the surgery and actually for nearly two more years (she began cancer treatments as soon as she could after the birth of the baby).
So now - her baby is a young woman, and the mother is dead. So who knows what the most moral decision was?
But that story is the EXCEPTION to the rules, and not many pro lifers I know would take a firm stand against abortion in the cases of rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother.
Unfortunately, though people trot out these three as if most abortions were due to these few truly heart rending scenarios, most abortions are NOT performed for these reasons.
What horrifies most pro life folks is that so many abortions are performed simply because the pregnancy - and a child - would be inconvenient or maybe even difficult for the woman. Consequently we have:
Around 1,000,000 abortions per year in the US ("good news" is that at least that figure has lowered from 2011).
Racially, the number of abortions is disproportionate, meaning that Hispanic women and non white women have much higher rates of abortion than white, non Hispanic women.
Medicaid (ie, tax dollars) pays for abortions in 15 states. Considering that many sane and reasonable tax payers truly believe that human life starts at conception (and there's never been a scientific study that proves otherwise), this can be particularly galling - even horrifying - to them.
Three fourths of women seeking abortions give their reason(s) for obtaining an abortion as convenience related - ie, wanting to finish school first, not thinking they can afford a baby right now, etc. Honestly, and I think everyone knows this so let's just be intellectually honest about it - "affording" a child is very subjective. People have many different concepts of whether or not they can "afford" a baby. Fifty one percent of those obtaining an abortion had above the federal poverty rate in income. About 25 percent (that would be 250,000 or so abortions - some would say human lives), were well above federal low income rates.
I'm not looking for an argument - I realized a long time ago that neither "side" is likely to budge. It's just that as a woman who is opposed to most abortions, I am inundated all the time with pro-choice language, images, marches, etc. I understand how "the other side" feels, especially since there were several times in my own life that I could have legally and justifiably (to most folks) had an abortion or encouraged my daughters to have abortions. Pregnancy can be really, really scary and inconvenient at times. But I posted this in the probably vain attempt to help others understand how many pro life proponents really do think and feel about the issue.
Thanks for an articulate and respectful expression of your beliefs. It's a welcome breath of fresh air in this forum of late.
As for using condoms for birth control, they are one of the least effective methods of birth control because people sometimes use them incorrectly (put on too late. Put on incorrectly so slippage or breakage occurs, etc.). They also require the male partner to be willing to wear them, which takes some of the control away from the woman partner. A grown woman in a healthy relationship should be able to advocate for herself....but a young teen girl in mad love with her boyfriend who promises to put it on before he comes? She's gonna find it tougher to advocate for him to wear it Yes, we can certainly argue that she probably shouldn't be having sex if she isn't comfortable pushing for him to wear a condom, but if we are being realistic...there are lots of teen girls who shouldn't be having sex who are. Female birth control gives them some way to protect themselves. Unfortunately, most female birth control at this time is hormonal in nature and requires a prescription and is more expensive.
Personally, I'd rather be proactive and pay for birth control than having to be reactive and trying to discuss what to do with an unplanned pregnancy. Just my 2 cents.
According to organizers, the 2013 march drew an estimated 650,000 people. However, both NPR and The New York Times reported an estimated "tens of thousands." Organizers of the event have not disclosed how they measure the attendance.
"both NPR and The New York Times reported an estimated "tens of thousands.""
No offense but as a recovering Catholic I can't express how little respect I have for an organization that protected those who prey on children.
I feel bad that is all you have in your heart for the church. You have to know as a Catholic that Satan is trying to destroy our faith in any way he can.
Thanks for an articulate and respectful expression of your beliefs. It's a welcome breath of fresh air in this forum of late.
As for using condoms for birth control, they are one of the least effective methods of birth control because people sometimes use them incorrectly (put on too late. Put on incorrectly so slippage or breakage occurs, etc.). They also require the male partner to be willing to wear them, which takes some of the control away from the woman partner. A grown woman in a healthy relationship should be able to advocate for herself....but a young teen girl in mad love with her boyfriend who promises to put it on before he comes? She's gonna find it tougher to advocate for him to wear it Yes, we can certainly argue that she probably shouldn't be having sex if she isn't comfortable pushing for him to wear a condom, but if we are being realistic...there are lots of teen girls who shouldn't be having sex who are. Female birth control gives them some way to protect themselves. Unfortunately, most female birth control at this time is hormonal in nature and requires a prescription and is more expensive.
Personally, I'd rather be proactive and pay for birth control than having to be reactive and trying to discuss what to do with an unplanned pregnancy. Just my 2 cents.
You're welcome. I tried anyway!
I didn't say anything about condoms in my post, just to clarify (not saying you implied that I did, but I just wanted that to be very clear). I used "the pill" and never had a problem at all getting it from my doctor - I'm not sure I ever paid much, if anything, for the prescriptions or the doctor visits, since my insurance always covered BC very generously. And why wouldn't it - BC is a lot less expensive than a pregnancy.
The pill is dirt cheap and has been dirt cheap for decades. Often it costs literally nothing out of pocket to obtain. Most insurance companies cover a yearly physical and the cost of the pill completely. And isn't it the law for everyone to have health insurance?
Crimes are categorized by severity and the level of severity is listed in the penal code. It's up to legislatures to determine how severely a crime will be punished. If you were to write to your local representatives, what punishment would suggest for a woman who procures an abortion? If you treat it as a misdemeanor, it would most likely be punished by a fine or a term of imprisonment of less than a year. If you treat it as a felony, the term could be from probation up to life or the death penalty, depending on how it's categorized.
You're the one advocating punishment. What range of punishment would you like to see?
As in any 'crime' - it depends on a lot of circumstances.
If the court decides that having one is murder, then she suffers the punishment of a convicted murderer as judged by the court.
If the court doesn't rule it a murder, then a less than felony sentenced needs to be applied.
And guess what? If it's seen as a murder and she serves a life sentence, then most likely, unless the night guards pay her a conjugal visit, she'll not murder any more...
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