Why I would tackle such a controversial topic, knowing with full clarity, I will undoubty offend some? My main motivation is that in my opinion, the current debate, avoids certain questions.This article will focus on that very missing information, and avoid the usual arguments. Whether abortion is "Murder", or if woman have the right to make decisions about their own body will not be discussed, as these two talking points, as well as many others have already been debated at great length by many more qualified they myself. This discussion will start with one simple question, and a simple follow up question.
1.)What purpose does abortion serve when so many children are wanted for adoption.
2.)If abortion were to be outlawed, how many more children would be born, and what would happen to them?
I did some digging on the inter-web to find the answers to these two questions, and believe it or not, finding current statistical data is very hard to come by. Even worst, there seems to be a lot of contradictory data floating around, used to elevate one's perspective.
So let's look at some numbers, and see where we stand:
In 2005 820,000 abortions were performed. In fact, the abortaion rate has steadily declined over the last 35 years, despite a massive population increase during that same time period. In 1973 there were over 1 million abortions performed, and abortion was still illegal.
Assuming that these statics remain constant, we now have an idea of just how many children would be born per year if abortion were illegal.
Now, let's look at one of the most cited solutions to legal abortion; people waiting to adopt.
The 1995 National Survey of Family Growth found that 232,000 women were currently taking concrete steps towards adoptions, compared to 204,000 in 1988. (National Center for Health Statistics, 1999).
Again, assuming that these statics hold steady, approximately 250,000 children are wanted for adoption every year.
Obviously, there is a tremendous short fall of people who are seeking to adoption, versus the number of unwanted children that would be born if abortion were to become illegal.
By the time the first child born, that would have otherwise been aborted, turns 18 years of age, there would be 14,744,400 additional unwanted children added to the foster care system. This would increase the birth rate in the US by as much as 20%.
This brings up a serious obstacle. How do we manage, and care for 14 million extra unwanted children, and who pays for it?
Until this question is answered, there can be no real and honest debate. We live in a capitalistic country, and unlike a socialistic society, each citizen is responsible for themselves, and their family. With that responsibility, comes burden, and reward. What happens when some members of a society can simply not shoulder their responsibility, their burden?
What do you think? Please feel free to respond.
