Fewer abortions for all but poorer women
A recent report the Alan Guttmacher Institute shows the U.S. abortion rate dropped 11 percent between 1994 and 2000. For girls in the 15-18 age group, the rate was down by 39 percent, well over a third. Any drop in the number of abortions is a positive development, because it necessarily follows one or more other positive developments: a decline in teen sex, a greater awareness of sexually transmitted diseases and/or more widespread access to contraceptives. The numbers suggest that young people are getting the right messages about sexual behavior, its potential negative consequences and the ways to avoid those consequences.
Tempering the encouragement produced by the overall decline in abortions is a sharp increase in one particular demographic. According to the Guttmacher study, abortions among poorer women – those who earn less than twice the federal poverty level of $17,000 for a family of four – rose 23 percent during the same 1994-2000 time period. The increase was even higher, 25 percent, for women below the poverty line.
Are the poor and less fortunate being left behind once again? Are teen pregnancy prevention programs missing the audience that needs them most? Are contraceptives beyond the financial reach of a significant segment of our society?
Yes to all of the above. As a result, not only are there more abortions among the poor. There are also more unwanted births, more abused and neglected infants and children and a higher incidence of AIDS and other STDs. This is a vicious circle that won’t be broken until education and adequate family planning services are made readily available to every woman of child-bearing age.
Programs encouraging sexual abstinence among teenagers have been successful and are certainly part of any comprehensive approach to teaching responsible sexual behavior. But the reality is that abstinence-only programs have never been enough in the past and will likely never be enough in the future.
There also must be instruction about sexually transmitted diseases and how to avoid them. Contraceptives must be accessible, and their proper use explained and encouraged. Parents have to talk to their kids; children have to trust their parents enough to talk to them.
The primary focus of all of these efforts is twofold: the prevention of unwanted pregnancies and the resultant abortions that end so many of them, and halting the spread of crippling, life-threatening diseases.
The Guttmacher study indicates that progress is being made. At the same time, it shows much remains to be done.