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... centres is about the same, around $ 250. 00. This may be a high cost to pay for poor women or for those who are not able to afford an abortion. Many poor women are having children, many of them illegitimate, simply because they are unable to afford an abortion. This social issue leads the abortion debate down another heated debate: should the government fund abortions for the poor? Charles Murray, an advocate for government funded abortions, wrote "Illegitimacy is the single most important social problem of our time -- more important than crime, drugs, poverty, welfare or homelessness, because it drives everything else. " (Alcorn 125).
In 1978, an amendment banned the use of federal funds for poor women's abortions. The number of federally funded abortions fell from 294, 600 in 1977 to 165 in 1990 (financing permitted because the mothers' lives were in danger) (Bender 96). Publicly financed abortions makes a lot of sense. For every tax dollar spent on abortions for poor women, the public saves at least four dollars in public medical and welfare expenditures in the first two years of the child's life alone.
If abortion were fully funded in every state, the net savings for the nation as a whole in a two-year period would total between $ 435 million and $ 540 million -- four to six times the $ 95 million to $ 125 million it would cost to publicly fund abortions for all medicaid-eligible women who want one (Bender 102). Pro-choice supporters are in favor of reinstating federally funded abortions, but staunch pro-lifers do not care about the costs inflicted upon themselves as long as the lives of unborn babies are saved. Saving unborn babies is the ultimate goal of many radical pro-lifers. No matter what the consequences are, these people are willing to put their money and their freedom on the line for the chance to save innocent human beings. An example of such devotion to this cause is the slaying of Dr. David Gunn.
On a sunny morning in Pensacola, Florida, Dr. Gunn was shot in the back and killed as he tried to enter Pensacola Medical Services. His murderer, Michael Griffin, cried, "Don't kill any more babies, " as he fired (Bender 199). Michael Griffin was convicted of murder and sent to prison, losing his personal freedom for his beloved cause. One anti-abortion demonstrator was quoted saying, We have found that the weak link is the doctors. Dr.
Gunns murder reflects the violent oppositions that have occurred over abortion in this country. Instead of quiet civil disobedience, anti-abortion activists are trying to get America to listen to their side by shooting doctors, burning down clinics, bomb threats, vandalizing clinics, and assaulting patients. Not every patient who goes to these clinics are going in for an abortion. The main priority for many family planning clinics is to educate people about safe sex.
They provide services such as treatment for STDs and AIDS. They test women for cancers of the ovaries or cervix, provide PAP smears, pregnancy tests, safe contraception and a whole bunch of other family planning services at a lower price than what hospitals would charge. They also council people on such issues as unplanned pregnancy, how to be more responsible about their bodies, and how to be a more responsible parent. By harassing every patient that goes to these clinics, the demonstrators are hoping to put them out of business. In the aftermath of Dr. Gunn's slaying, some pro-choice groups are using this incident to link quiet protesters to violent protesters.
Civil suits brought by abortion clinics and others asked and got large sums of money which virtually bankrupted groups such as Operation Rescue. In bankrupting these organizations, the anti-abortion groups are not helping their cause financially, but other effects of the violence are making a significant difference. The violence and harassment are having a profound effect on the staff and the patients of targeted facilities. The surge of violence has also affected the staff and patients at facilities who have not been a direct victim of violence, but who perceive themselves as a potential "next target." There are also larger social consequences, including reduced availability and access to abortion services and increased costs for abortions and contraceptive services where abortion is available.
The staff of facilities that provide abortions learn to live with bricks thrown through their windows, threats toward them and their children, and many jeering picketers and blockaders surrounding their cars as they come to work. The cumulative effect of years of violence has no doubt taken its toll, and some physicians have stopped performing abortions because of the risks involved (Rubin 53). There is no evidence that these tactics from anti-abortion activism have stopped women from having abortions, but they are making it harder for the women who seek one. Women have to be escorted into the clinics by staff members to shield them from the protesters who try to keep them from entering the clinics.
Nonetheless, the taunting remarks and the graphic pictures of aborted fetuses has caused untold stress and trauma. One can only assume that it is a hard enough decision to have an abortion without having protesters make you feel like you are committing murder. The violence and jeering protesters have created unnecessary health risks and the loss of personal integrity and privacy for hundreds of thousands of women. At least one positive thing has come out of all this turmoil: national polls have revealed a wave of public revulsion at the behavior of the extreme anti-abortion groups. This revulsion must now be turned into a positive community action with all nonviolent and pro-choice citizens ensuring that their own communities, their own clinics, and their own physicians are not targeted for violence and intimidation.
The purveyors of violence win only as long as people shake their heads, say "Isn't that terrible?" and keep on walking without a backward glance. Americans cannot accept violence as a solution to a social problem. Laws must be put into place that protect each side of the abortion debate, but how to come to such a compromise seems very far out of reach. There is no easy solution to this provocative social dilemma. Coming to some sort of a compromise seems impossible.
All ideas are rejected with some opposition. Even the invention of RU 486, which would flush out an embryo before it even has a chance to grow, is rejected on the grounds that it is still killing a human being, no matter that it is at its earliest stage in life. Since there are no compromises forthcoming thus far, it seems that as long as abortion is available, the scare tactics of pro-life activism will also continue. Legislation needs to be stricter against the violent protesting.
It is a strange concept that some radical anti-abortion activists think that killing an adult human being in order to save the lives of the unborn is acceptable. These people need to spend more time and effort with their own families instead of harassing doctors, staff members and patients at abortion clinics. With or without the violence and harassment, women will seek abortions. It is a hard enough decision to make.
Lets not make it any more difficult for them to do what they believe is best under their circumstances. After extensive research on the subject of abortion, I find myself straddling both sides of the fence on this debate. I do not agree with abortions that are later than 12 weeks but abortion should remain a safe and legal alternative. There are many women who are not ready to take on the challenges and responsibilities of raising children.
To have millions of poor, homeless and unhappy children in the world to cope with lifes injustices would be far more heartbreaking than extracting an embryo from a uterus. Abortion is a very complex issue that should remain a personal decision. The bottom line is that each woman should make her own decision based on her own morals and beliefs. Bibliography: WORKS CITED Alcorn, Randy.
Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments, Portland: Multnomah, 1992 Bender, David. The Abortion Controversy, San Diego: Green haven Press, 1995. Carlin, David R. , Jr. "Going, Going, Gone. " Commonwealth 10 Sept. 1993: 6 - 7. Cunningham, Amy. "Who Are The Women Who Are Pro-Life?" Glamour Feb. 1994: 154 - 157.
Driefus, Claudia. , Seizing Our Bodies: The Politics of Women's Health. New York: Vintage Books, 1977. Flanders, Carl N. , ABORTION, New York: Facts on Life, 1991. Points, Dana. "The Truth About The Abortion Pill." Mademoiselle Oct. 1994: 106. Rubin, Rita and Susan Hidden. "Physicians Under Fire. " U. S.
News & World Report 16 Jan. 1995: 52 - 53.
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Research essay sample on Unborn Babies Federally Funded
