When it comes to abortion, the terminology has always been the problem, so I propose we fix it!
Medically, they use the word abortion for any terminated pregnancy for literally any reason, wanted or not.
Change the terminology, unite the country.
There’s a clear distinction between medically necessary, rape, incest, versus convenience and birth control. Why not come up with terminology that makes more sense to distinguish between the differences so we can all better agree on what’s acceptable and what’s not?
There’s always going to be outliers, but changing the terminology is a clear route to unity.
The best way to accomplish this goal would be a mandate that all high schools provide a course teaching fetal development and what abortions are really like, among other topics.
I mention this idea as part of a package of ideas I suggested in my proposal entitled “Establish a Right to Maternal & Fetal Healthcare & stabilize the abortion issue.” Please check it out.
Ashley, please take a look at this and see if any of it fits into your proposals.emphasized text
In 2007, Colorado was the fortunate recipient of a private donation to enact the Colorado Family Planning Initiative to increase access to female contraception. From their website:
This initiative empowered thousands of Colorado women to choose when and whether to start a family.
Thanks in large part to the Colorado Family Planning Initiative:
Teen birth rate was nearly cut in half.
Teen abortion rate was nearly cut in half.
Births to women without a high school education fell 38 percent.
Second and higher order births to teens were cut by 57 percent.
Birth rate among young women ages 20-24 was cut by 20 percent.
Average age of first birth increased by 1.2 years among all women.
Rapid repeat births declined by 12 percent among all women.
Costs avoided: $66.1-$69.6 million.
Because it was a private donation, the program did not continue upon expiration of funds. As abortion has remained a hot button debate, I’ve often wondered why this clearly successful approach to female reproductive care was not enacted on a national scale. The groundwork is already laid out for this one, and if it can be put into action nationally, it will mostly finish the abortion debate and truly allow women more choices. There’s a thorough study review linked on the website.
There is certainly many ways to curb the incidence of unplanned pregnancies. Obviously sex education and access to birth control is one of them. At the same time, we’ve had access to birth control pill, and abortion for the past 50 years. And the socio-economic outcomes of mothers and families have severely worsened. The rate of unsupported/economically marginalized single mothers has severely increased at crisis levels. Birth control is not a substitute for men and women making more responsible choices. And men still think they have some right to woman’s body and that access to birth control, or abortion, absolves his responsibility to her as a partner and his children as a dad… We need a major cultural shift, which is what I hope a comprehensive awareness class on all issues related to pregnancy, children and parenthood, must be taught.
Please dive into the info I shared. One major contributor to positive outcomes was the increased access to care in remote and rural communities which are traditionally underserved.