More on the WHO/Guttmacher Report
The Chicago Tribune headline says it all:
Having attended many a rally, meeting, workshop, and symposium on abortion and reproductive justice, I have heard many women and men repeat the line that women have been having abortions since women could get pregnant. I have been at events where women talk about having pre-Roe abortions, the fear of not knowing where they were going, where their best friend was going, or if their money would make it to Mexico.
The WHO/Guttmacher report firmly shows that no matter what, if a woman does not want to be pregnant, she will try anything to not be pregnant. Some will succeed, some will fail, and some will die trying.
The report shows that women living in countries where abortion is illegal STILL have them. The difference? Many of those abortions are in unsafe conditions. To think that only single, childless woman have abortions is to be ignorant of the situation. Women with children have abortions. They realize that they cannot feed one more mouth, that they are not healthy enough to carry a pregnancy to term, or that their lives are too dangerous to have a baby. When women die, families suffer. Not just the woman, the children she left behind, the elders she cares for, and perhaps the entire community if she plays a vital role.
So if we're going to have them, shouldn't they be safe?
Technorati tags: abortion, Planned Parenthood, international, women's health
Abortion rate same, legal or not
Having attended many a rally, meeting, workshop, and symposium on abortion and reproductive justice, I have heard many women and men repeat the line that women have been having abortions since women could get pregnant. I have been at events where women talk about having pre-Roe abortions, the fear of not knowing where they were going, where their best friend was going, or if their money would make it to Mexico.
The WHO/Guttmacher report firmly shows that no matter what, if a woman does not want to be pregnant, she will try anything to not be pregnant. Some will succeed, some will fail, and some will die trying.
The report shows that women living in countries where abortion is illegal STILL have them. The difference? Many of those abortions are in unsafe conditions. To think that only single, childless woman have abortions is to be ignorant of the situation. Women with children have abortions. They realize that they cannot feed one more mouth, that they are not healthy enough to carry a pregnancy to term, or that their lives are too dangerous to have a baby. When women die, families suffer. Not just the woman, the children she left behind, the elders she cares for, and perhaps the entire community if she plays a vital role.
So if we're going to have them, shouldn't they be safe?
Technorati tags: abortion, Planned Parenthood, international, women's health
Labels: abortion, Guttmacher, international
posted by Veronica at
1:25 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks for posting this, Veronica. I was hoping I'd see it here. However, the Chicago Tribune article is not as comprhensive in its scope as the NY Times, which highlights that contraception reduces abortion rates (shocker, right?). The URL to the NY Times is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/world/12abortion.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
You're welcome. And thanks for the NYT link.
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