Woo HOO!! Supreme Court upholds Partial Birth Abortion Ban!!!!

[suebaby 0]

"I'm only going to protest and march for sh** that affects me," she said. "You know, if they say, 'Hey, we're going to ban the sale of alcohol after 9 p.m."

[Alexandra 55]

All I can say about this decision is that as a mother of daughters I honestly fear for their future as self-determining citizens of this country. :confused: :cool:

[Carlene 12]

I know that there are other circumstances in which people get abortions, but a lot of abortions do happen because the mother is young and uneducated, and the baby is unwanted. As a society, what should we do with a million more unwanted children a year? What does that do to our money, our standards, our obligation to the moms and babies? If we look for objective hard data about life, might we also need to do so about living?

Actually, Betsy, young, uneducated teens have the fewest abortions, as a group.

Abortions by Age of Woman

Under 20 - 19%

20 - 29 - 56%

30+ Years - 25%

61% of women who have an abortion have had a prior birth

48% of women who have an abortion have had a previous abortion.

These are the reasons women cite for seeking an abortion:

Fetal abnormalities - 3%

Too young and immature to have a child - 11%

Relationship problems/unmarried - 13%

Health - 3%

Rape or incest - 1%

Already have enough children- 8%

Inadequate finances - 22%

"Not ready for the responsibility" - 22%

"Life would be changed too much" - 17%

The most likely person to have a later term abortion is a girl under age 15.

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Nearly 14.7% of all abortions performed on girls under the age of 15 occur after

the 16th week of gestation.

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8.5% of abortions for older teens occur after 16 weeks.

•

Only a tiny percentage of women over 20 have an abortion after the 16th week

Roughly 1 of every 3 births in the U.S. is out-of-wedlock. Nearly 1 of 4 white births, nearly 7 of 10 black births, and more than 4 of 10 Hispanic births are to unwed mothers.

There is no correlation between out-of-wedlock births and abortion rates.

Six Southern states are among the top 10 in out-of-wedlock births. But there is no correlation between states that have many of out-of-wedlock births and abortion rates.

States with the highest percentage of births to unmarried women have abortion rates near the national average (2001)

State % Births Out of Wedlock Abortion Rank

Louisiana 46.3% of births out-of-wedlock 32 nd in state abortion rate

Mississippi 46.3 33rd

New Mexico 46.3 19th

South Carolina 40.1 28th

Delaware 39.9 3rd

Arizona 39.5 42nd

Florida 39.0 2nd

Georgia 37.3 17th

Nevada 37.2 9th

Arkansas 36.1 36th

Mean 40.8% of births out-of-wedlock 22nd in state abortion rate

States with the lowest percentage of births to unmarried women have abortion rates near the national average (2001)

State % Births Out of Wedlock Abortion Rank

Utah 17.4% of births out-of-wedlock 45th in state abortion rate

Idaho 22.0 46th

New Hampshire 24.2 n/a

Colorado 25.0 47th

Minnesota 26.3 20th

Massachusetts 26.7 7th

Nebraska 27.7 38th

North Dakota 27.9 41st

Iowa 28.8 34th

Washington 28.8 5th

Mean 25.5% of births out-of-wedlock 31st in state abortion rate

Abortion statistics unavailable for California, New Hampshire, and Alaska. Louisiana and Florida figures include out-of-state residents who had abortions performed in those states.

Source:

The Third Way Culture Project

The Demographics of Abortion

The Great Divide Between Abortion Rhetoric and Abortion Reality

This was the most unbiased, and the best documented, source I could find. The report also had this to say...

The data in this memo illustrate how the divisive abortion debate is focused on hot-button political issues that rarely occur in real life or outside the minds of fervent activists. The social onservatives’ focus onso-called “partial-birth abortion” affects, at most, 8 of every 10,000 abortions performed. The social liberals’ traditional defense of abortion on the grounds of rape and incest or the life of the mother is irrelevant in approximately 98 of every 100 abortions. The abortion debate is so far removed from reality that it would be like debating the 2000 Presidential election by discussing only the candidacies of Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan.

[JeninCO 0]

I think abortion is a better alternative to creating a generation of unwanted children who suffer abuse, abandonment and neglect. Those children, in turn, grow up to be rapists, serial killers, murderers and child abusers themselves.

Is it really that important to bring a life into this world no matter what?

[gadgetlady 4]

I think abortion is a better alternative to creating a generation of unwanted children who suffer abuse, abandonment and neglect. Those children, in turn, grow up to be rapists, serial killers, murderers and child abusers themselves.

Is it really that important to bring a life into this world no matter what?

There is no correlation between an unplanned pregnancy and abuse, abandonment, and neglect. In fact, most children who are abused were planned, wanted pregnancies.

[green 6]

I think that any woman who doesn't want a baby shouldn't be forced to have one. This is her decision to make. I also think that there should be a cap on the time during which she can make this decision. Leaving it until the moment when the foetus could live outside the womb as a preemie is leaving it too late unless there is a serious health consequence involved. Then the mother's rights must trump that of the foetus.

[Carlene 12]

I think abortion is a better alternative to creating a generation of unwanted children who suffer abuse, abandonment and neglect. Those children, in turn, grow up to be rapists, serial killers, murderers and child abusers themselves.

Is there some study you could cite for us on that, or is it just your gut feeling?

I've seen plenty of mothers interviewed whose children grew up to be infamous criminals. Not once have I heard one say, "You know....I almost aborted the little bastard. Too bad I changed my mind."

[green 6]

So basically it's all up to us to determine when a human being is a human being? That's great, because I wanted to go buy me a slave, and since I don't consider them human there's no problem there.

Gadget, I find this argument disingenuous coming from a Christian. Your Holy Book does, afterall, look quite kindly on the practice of slavery, does it not?

[Carlene 12]

I think that any woman who doesn't want a baby shouldn't be forced to have one. This is her decision to make. I also think that there should be a cap on the time during which she can make this decision. Leaving it until the moment when the foetus could live outside the womb as a preemie is leaving it too late unless there is a serious health consequence involved. Then the mother's rights must trump that of the foetus.

More from "The Third Way Culture Project"...

Roughly 9 out of 10 abortions are performed in the first trimester.

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57.6% of abortions occur within 9 weeks.

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77.9% occur within 10 weeks.

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88.1% occur within 12 weeks — the end of the first trimester.

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0.08% occur after 24 weeks — the end of the second trimester.

Part III, Finding #2

The reason most women give for having an abortion after 16 weeks is not realizing they were pregnant.

Only 5.8% of all abortions are performed after the 16th week. Women often give multiple reasons for relatively late abortions, but not realizing they were pregnant was number one.

71% cited not realizing they were pregnant as the reason for having an abortion after the 16th week.

48% cited difficulty in making the arrangements to have an abortion.

33% said they were afraid to tell their partner.

24% said they needed time to make a decision.

8% said they hoped their relationship with their partner would change.

2% cited a late diagnosis for fetal abnormality.

[gadgetlady 4]

Gadget, I find this argument disingenuous coming from a Christian. Your Holy Book does, afterall, look quite kindly on the practice of slavery, does it not?

LOL! Yeah, uh, no.

[gadgetlady 4]

0.08% occur after 24 weeks — the end of the second trimester.

Such a teeny, tiny number. Not, of course, teeny tiny when you multiply it by 4,000 abortions a day and 365 days a year. 320 a day. 116,800 a year. That's a massacre, really. Of viable babies.

[marjon9 6]

It's actually 3.2 a day, not 320. The annual total is 1168, not 116,800. And the point many are making is that these are not viable babies.

I realize these are insignificant details in the way you think about things. This, after all, still represents a political victory against those evil liberals. So the facts are not really that important.

[gadgetlady 4]

It's actually 3.2 a day, not 320. The annual total is 1168, not 116,800. And the point many are making is that these are not viable babies.

I realize these are insignificant details in the way you think about things. This, after all, still represents a political victory against those evil liberals. So the facts are not really that important.

My apologies, and you are absolutely right. I misplaced the decimal point in my calculation (and I was a math minor in college; I'm so embarrassed!). And while the numbers are much smaller, I'm sure if there was something else killing 1168 babies per year, people would be screaming bloody murder.

[Carlene 12]

My apologies, and you are absolutely right. I misplaced the decimal point in my calculation (and I was a math minor in college; I'm so embarrassed!). And while the numbers are much smaller, I'm sure if there was something else killing 1168 babies per year, people would be screaming bloody murder.

Actually, no one is screaming about childhood mortality as much as they should be...

SIDS is the leading cause of death among infants who are 1 month to 1 year old, and claims the lives of about 2,500 infants each year in the United States.

The leading cause of death in children over one year of age is trauma. Each year, more than 6,000 children die from accidental injury. Over 14,000,000 children are hurt each year from carelessness.

Children Killed by Guns: In 1999, there were 3,385 firearms-related deaths for children ages 0–19 years. They break down as follows: 214 unintentional, 1,078 suicides, 1,990 homicides, 83 for which the intent could not be determined, and 20 due to legal intervention. Source: 2002 edition of Injury Facts.

[green 6]

Gadget, I find this argument disingenuous coming from a Christian. Your Holy Book does, afterall, look quite kindly on the practice of slavery, does it not?

So you say that this is "LOL, uh, no." Well then, my bad, but I was under the impression that there really was quite a bit of info to be found there concerning the proper care and treatment of one's slaves. :phanvan My bad.