Poverty is not the root cause of abortion
The explosion of abortion in the US didn’t follow a corresponding explosion of poverty, as one would expect if poverty causes abortion.
As is often the case with secular refrains, there is an element of truth in it: the roots of (particular evil or problem) are structural; therefore strengthening or fixing the structure will solve the problem.
One hears this often in discussions about abortion. The latest version of the argument goes like this: abortion is caused by structural poverty, so to reduce abortions we must give women options via state benefits. Private pregnancy centers are fine, though they don’t help address the “root causes” of poverty and lack of access to health care, which, again, could be alleviated by more government benefits and policies. The “pro-life” political battle against abortion is futile or worse, as it requires alliances with evil, manipulative powers (Republicans and conservatives) who make promises but rarely deliver, and who push for laws that are harmful to life. Further, making abortion illegal won’t stop women from having them, just as the “culture wars” against contraception, family breakdown, and sexual liberation only exacerbate the problem. Therefore, the pro-life actions all people of good will should be able to agree upon are to increase state benefits that help mothers in difficult situations, and to put equal amounts of time and energy into everything from gun control to environmental activism. Though this part is usually left out, it logically follows that at the national and state levels this means electing Democrats, who—while doing everything in their power to protect abortion providers, force those opposed to pay for abortion and participate in the act, and who call abortion a “fundamental right” —tend to enact policies that reduce overall abortion rates. Case in point: abortion rates decreased under the quite pro-choice Obama administration. And isn’t that the goal?
Let’s set aside for a moment the fact that most pro-lifers either support or do not oppose government benefits for women with unexpected pregnancies. Let’s focus instead on what the “root cause” of abortion really is. If we get this wrong, we’re likely to seek the wrong solutions.
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