Here are the facts: 1) abortions happen in all countries; 2) the 19 countries with the lowest abortion rates have legalized abortion (although sometimes there are caveats); and therefore 3) the legality of abortion has no obvious causal connection with the number of abortions that actually take place.
So what does it mean to be ‘pro-life?’ I am becoming more and more convinced that ‘pro-life’ is one of the biggest misnomers in our society, since it is usually a code word for ‘anti Roe,’ and as I get to know the movement, I fear it is little else. Now, there is some genuine work being done in Crisis Pregnancy Centers, but besides this, I see little evidence that these folks actually desire to reduce abortions.
I suspect foul play because it is not just that the ‘pro-life’ movement fails to embrace policies that decrease the number of abortions; rather, the same people that belong to the pro-life movement fervently advocate against these common-sense measures. I want to give more examples next week, but I’ll limit myself to only one this week. Germany, a country with the second-lowest abortion rate in the world, has national legislation that mandates that women get more than 2 years of paid maternity leave. Bad for business? A strain on the GDP? Perhaps, but that is surely one factor in the low German abortion rate, especially considering that 75% of American women cite the need to stay in school or work as their motivating factor for getting an abortion. Germany, unlike America, gives women every reason in the world to become a mother! Talk about a pro-life country!
But the mandatory 3-year paid maternity leave will not happen in America anytime soon, mostly because of conservatives (you remember those people who are claim to be ‘pro-life’). You know what they would say: “That’s government interfering in business!,” or “Hey government, get the hell out of the private sector!” Or my favorite: “Women with children shouldn’t work!” (Although they mysteriously supported Sarah Palin in overwhelming numbers).
Pro-lifers, who condemn abortion in the strongest terms possible (murder), are unwilling to take measures to remove one of the major temptations for abortions. Instead, they simply want to make abortion illegal. What do they believe that making abortion illegal will accomplish? I am afraid I know: they don’t want to be responsible for abortions. Apparently then, their grief over abortions is not as important to them as the question of moral responsibility. If abortions were declared illegal, and therefore the pro-lifers themselves were not responsible for abortions, then you know that there would be an intense celebration within the pro-life community. ‘Hooray, abortions are illegal!’
Their celebration would mask the fact that the abortion rate would probably be unchanged, if statistics and surveys are any indication.
