10 Pro-Choice Facts From A Pro-Life Writer | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Politics and Activism

10 Pro-Choice Facts From A Pro-Life Writer

It's time to take the bias out of abortion.

2384
10 Pro-Choice Facts From A Pro-Life Writer
ABC News

We've concluded Trump's first week of presidency, and abortion has been thrust back into the forefront of conversations. An abundance of articles flooded the media on the topic in the past few days, filled with heartbreaking stories and jaw-dropping statistics.

When an individual chooses to make abortion the topic of their social media posts, blogs, or articles, they often have an extremely strong emotional connection to the topic. Even friends and colleagues get into heated debates on abortion, both on its morality and its legality.

We all love facts, but too often abortion is a debate of opinion and emotion. Everybody has a voice on the matter. In fact, according to a poll conducted by Gallup, only 2% of respondents voiced that they had "no opinion" on abortion. Far too commonly, authors of these pieces provide false statistics in hopes of furthering their cause.

Here's the problem with spreading false statistics: in addition to spreading blind propaganda of your own cause, you make it more difficult to measure the progressive changes being made.

Take a look at ten facts that are relevant to abortion's legality:

Myth: Prior to abortion being legalized in 1973, up to 5,000 women died each year from illegal abortion procedures.

1. In 1972, the year before abortion was federally legalized, 63 women in the United States died from illegal abortion (CDC).

Although many pro-choice personnel have depicted this number to be in the thousands, the death toll has not been that high since prior to 1950. Prior to the development of antibiotics, abortion was the leading cause of maternal death in the U.S.

2. Legalization of abortion nearly eliminated risks of death in legal abortion procedures.

By 1997, the death rate in legal abortions had dropped to 0.6 per 100,000 procedures.

Myth: More people have abortions when there are laws protecting the procedure.

3. Abortion rates are steady, whether or not the procedure is legal (World Health Organization).

So, legality aside, women are having the procedure.

Myth: Women will be faced with post-abortion syndrome, and deeply regret terminating the pregnancy.

4. Two years after having an abortion, 72% of women reported being satisfied with their decision.

Although dramatizations are shown by pro-lifers of regretful would-be mothers, the majority of women who undergo an abortion do not regret doing so.

Myth: Men take care of the kids just as much as the mother does.

5. 82.5% of custodial parents are single mothers (U.S. Census Bureau).

Meaning that there are over 11 million single mothers in America.

6. Nearly one-third of single mothers are below the poverty line (U.S. Census Bureau).

In 2014, over three and a half million mothers fell into this category.

7. Nearly two million single mothers brought in less than $15,730 in 2014.

The average cost of raising one child was estimated in 2014 to be $13,630 per year. The amount remaining for the mother is approximately two-fifths of the Federal minimum wage.

That doesn't take into account inflation, however, which raises the annual costs of raising a child to $16,916.

Myth: All women benefit from child support.

8. Only 52.3% of custodial mothers have a child support agreement (U.S. Census Bureau).

Regardless of whether that agreement is formal or informal, only slightly more than half of single mothers have the agreement in place period. This does not account for the men not actually making their payments.

9. The average child support payment has decreased $1,997 over the past decade (U.S. Census Bureau).

Slightly more than half of custodial mothers will receive $3,950 per year in child support.

10. Of those that have child support agreements, less than half received full payment in 2013 (U.S. Census Bureau).

Simply because abortions are legal does not mean that those who are morally opposed to abortions will magically begin having them. The decision to terminate a pregnancy should be agreed upon between both of the parents, but when a disagreement occurs, the choice must be left to the woman. Why?

Because only one in six custodial parents is a male.

Because, 83% of the time, the child is left in the woman's care primarily.

Because, too often, that woman is being left without support from her male counterpart.

And until us men start owning up to our parts as fathers everysingle time we give a woman a child to take care of, we cannot expect women to birth every single pregnancy we give them.

When my mother was 19, she gave birth to me. She fought tooth and nail to provide for me in the early years, going so far as to sleep on the floor to gift me a place to sleep as a baby.

It was hard on her financially, obviously. Nearly two million American women bring in about $20,000 annually, a mere six thousand more than the cost of raising a child alone. The remainder, by the way, is merely two-fifths of the Federal minimum wage. But when it comes down to it, she was faced with a choice on what to do, and undertook the hardships associated with giving birth to me. And she did succeeded. My mother is the strongest woman that I know, but that doesn't mean every woman can do what she did.

Not every person's story is the same as my own. And although women have the ability to terminate their pregnancies, my mother chose not to.

Despite this being my own story, it's necessary to understand that not everybody's situation replicates your own. Each instance of pregnancy carries its own surrounding factors, and that is why we need to leave it as a decision left up to each mother.

Personal accounts of pregnancy and terminations are emotional. However, we all need to remember to keep the good of the whole in mind, and sometimes the whole doesn't represent your own experience.


Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Entertainment

15 Times Michael Scott's Life Was Worse Than Your Life

Because have you ever had to endure grilling your foot on a George Foreman?

1576
Michael Scott
NBC

Most of the time, the world's (self-proclaimed) greatest boss is just that, the greatest. I mean, come on, he's Michael Freakin' Scott after all! But every once in a while, his life hits a bit of a speed bump. (or he actually hits Meredith...) So if you personally are struggling through a hard time, you know what they say: misery loves company! Here are 15 times Michael Scott's life was worse than your life:

Keep Reading...Show less
Featured

12 Midnight NYE: Fun Ideas!

This isn't just for the single Pringles out there either, folks

16389
Friends celebrating the New Years!
StableDiffusion

When the clock strikes twelve midnight on New Year's Eve, do you ever find yourself lost regarding what to do during that big moment? It's a very important moment. It is the first moment of the New Year, doesn't it seem like you should be doing something grand, something meaningful, something spontaneous? Sure, many decide to spend the moment on the lips of another, but what good is that? Take a look at these other suggestions on how to ring in the New Year that are much more spectacular and exciting than a simple little kiss.

Keep Reading...Show less
piano
Digital Trends

I am very serious about the Christmas season. It's one of my favorite things, and I love it all from gift-giving to baking to the decorations, but I especially love Christmas music. Here are 11 songs you should consider adding to your Christmas playlists.

Keep Reading...Show less
campus
CampusExplorer

New year, new semester, not the same old thing. This semester will be a semester to redeem all the mistakes made in the previous five months.

1. I will wake up (sorta) on time for class.

Let's face it, last semester you woke up with enough time to brush your teeth and get to class and even then you were about 10 minutes late and rollin' in with some pretty unfortunate bed head. This semester we will set our alarms, wake up with time to get ready, and get to class on time!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Painfully True Stages Of Camping Out At The Library

For those long nights that turn into mornings when the struggle is real.

3439
woman reading a book while sitting on black leather 3-seat couch
Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash

And so it begins.

1. Walk in motivated and ready to rock

Camping out at the library is not for the faint of heart. You need to go in as a warrior. You usually have brought supplies (laptop, chargers, and textbooks) and sustenance (water, snacks, and blanket/sweatpants) since the battle will be for an undetermined length of time. Perhaps it is one assignment or perhaps it's four. You are motivated and prepared; you don’t doubt the assignment(s) will take time, but you know it couldn’t be that long.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments