Kill the Poor?
You write: "Stopping one abortion will cost the state and federal
government about a million dollars on average."
So in the name of "fiscal conservativism" we kill the poor? That sounds like
a *conservative* solution. In 1994, California voters overwhelmingly passed
a politically conservative measure, supported by conservatives, Proposition
187, to deny social services to illegal immigrants.
"Efficiency and progress is ours once more
"Now that we have the neutron bomb
"It's nice and quick and clean and gets things done
"Away with excess enemy
"But no less value to property
"No sense in war but perfect sense at home
"The sun beams down on a brand new day
"No more welfare tax to pay
"Unsightly slums gone up in flashing light
"Jobless millions whisked away
"At last we have more room to play
"All systems go to kill the poor tonight
"Gonna
"Kill kill kill kill Kill the poor, tonight
"Behold the sparkle of champagne
"The crime rate's gone
"Feel free again
"O' life's a dream with you, Miss Lily White
"Jane Fonda on the screen today
"Convinced the liberals it's okay
"So let's get dressed and dance away the night
"While they
"Kill kill kill kill Kill the poor, tonight..."
--the Dead Kennedys, "Kill the Poor"
Unlike Republicans, pro-life liberals advocate real social support for
pregnant women and mothers. In Pro-Life Feminism: Different Voices, editor
Gail Grenier Sweet calls for:
...easy access to contraception, sufficient maternity and paternity leaves,
job protection, job-sharing and flex-time, aids to women who wish to stay
home to raise young children, tax breaks and subsidies for women caring for
elderly relatives at home, community based shelters for pregnant single
women to learn parenting skills and finish their education, upgraded pension
plans to alleviate the poverty faced by many elderly women, humane care of
the handicapped and elderly in nursing homes, hospices for the terminally
ill, medical care for infants born with handicaps, shelters for battered
women, childcare programs, etc...
Similarly, in the December 1993 issue of Harmony: Voices for a Just Future,
in an article entitled “How Will we Revere Life?”, editor Rose Evans writes:
“This editor has long been aware of the relative success of the Dutch
support system for pregnant women, compared to that of the U.S. The Dutch
abortion rate is a minute fraction of the American. I believe the rate for
young women in their teens is about one-twentieth of the U.S. rate. And
this is done not so much by restrictive laws (although there are some
restrictions) as by real social support for pregnant women and mothers.
“The situation for pregnant women in the U.S. who don’t have assured income,
family support and medical insurance is abysmal and getting worse. Choice
is a joke. Women don’t have money for decent food, decent housing, or
decent medical care, nor adequate support after the child is born.”
Some argue that abortion is a necessary evil to prevent the United States
from becoming an overburdened “welfare state.” At present, however, there
are over two million couples and one million single people wishing to adopt.
Figures from Planned Parenthood show welfare costs of $13,900 for each
birth. Compare this to the figure of $50,000 each American ends up paying
in taxes as an adult. Moreover, the average time a family stays on welfare
is only 27 months.
Persons concerned about a return to “back-alley” abortions if abortion were
made illegal again should first read Aborting America by Dr. Bernard
Nathanson. 1983 data from the Bureau of Vital Statistics show one would
have to go back to the pre-penicillin era to find more than 1,000 maternal
deaths per year.
During 1965 to 1966, the period right before states began to legalize
abortion, the number of total deaths were down to 120 per year. In 1970,
the figure was 128 per year. A Kinsey study in 1960 showed that 84 to 87
percent of all illegal abortions were performed by reputable physicians.
Dr. Mary Calderone of Planned Parenthood once stated, “Ninety percent of all
illegal abortions are presently done by physicians.”
The majority of pro-life activists also regard the mother seeking abortion
as a victim and not a criminal. Looking back on over two hundred years of
legal history, the American Center for Bioethics concluded that women have
never been prosecuted for abortion; only the abortionists.
This is analogous to our current laws which arrest drug dealers and
prostitutes rather than their clientele. If we continue to imperfectly
enforce laws like these against what are arguably victimless crimes, why
can’t we take steps towards protecting the unborn?
****
John Morrow, a pro-life Christian at Rutgers University in New Jersey,
taking a stand against abortion on secular human rights grounds,
successfully debated pro-choice liberals (dominating the discussion!) on
USENET, from 1986 - 1988, and his arguments convinced me to become pro-life.
(I'd like to return the favor and convince John Morrow to become
pro-animal-rights!)
1. John Morrow said he disagreed with the Republicans for failing to provide
enough social support for children once they're born.
In 1992, pro-life Democrat Robert Casey said he would strongly support Lynn
Yeakel who was then running against pro-choice Republican Senator Arlen
Specter in Pennsylvania.
Yeakel favored abortion-rights, too, but, Casey said, “we agree on all the
other issues.”
Casey stated further that he would not leave the Democratic Party. The
anti-abortion Republicans, he insisted, “drop the children at birth and do
nothing for them after that.”
Barney Frank similarly commented that for Republicans, "Life begins at
conception and ends at birth."
2. John Morrow said his opposition to capital punishment led him to oppose
abortion.
3. John Morrow compared discrimination against the unborn to homophobia and
xenophobia to win over liberals.
4. John Morrow said he supported sex education.
5. John Morrow said he supported contraception.
6. John Morrow said when Roe v. Wade came down, a different set of morals
was in place: even mainstream secular American society would not accept
single mothers (like Chaitanya-what's-her-name), there were "shotgun
weddings," homes for unwed mothers, etc.
7. And John Morrow said health care in the U.S. should be "federalized"
i.e., "socialized, like it is in the UK."
We Democrats have been pushing for health care reform since Harry Truman.
Democrats For Life of America, 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, South Building,
Suite 900, Washington, DC 20004 (202) - 220 - 3066
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