1

Abortion

Social Welfare in the United States: Current Programs

SW 4710

Precious Johnson

Lori Klein-Shapiro

October 14, 2012

2

Abstract Today pro-life and pro-choice advocates continue to fight over whether the unborn

are allowed the same rights as the born, and whether a woman’s right to control her life and body

includes the right to end an unwanted pregnancy. Legalized laws and policies on abortion enable

women to end an unwanted pregnancy and can be performed safely at abortion clinics with

trained professionals. Even though abortion was legalized by the Supreme Court, states were still

allowed to set their own regulations on abortion. The Hyde Amendment which restricts the use

of Medicaid funding for abortions except for medical reasons, rape, and incest, the Parental

Involvement Law, and the Mandatory Delay Law has reduced the pregnancy rates in teens and

young adults. Unsafe abortions continue globally despite the availability of safe methods of

abortion, due to the fact that women around the world do not have access to safe abortion

services.

Introduction

Abortion has been a social issue throughout history, not only in the United States, but

also in other countries around the world. Women and men of all age, races, educational

background, and religions are affected by abortion. Abortion is the forcible removal of a

developing baby from the womb of his or her mother, using surgical, mechanical, or chemical

means (Podell, 1990). Having a baby is a gift from God and I personally believe that abortion

should be the last alternative unless it is to save the life of the mother. Due to the fact that

abortions are legal in most countries, women are being treated by professionals and the death rate

has decreased for women who have had illegal abortions. Instead of having an abortion, the

safest option is to have the child and put it up for adoption, which will take away the worry and

stress that women may encounter from killing their child. Although abortion has been debated

3

for centuries, the reasons to condemn or support it have varied with the political and social

situations being debated (Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998).

Statistics of Abortion

After the Roe v. Wade decision, abortion rate rose severely in the 1970’s. In the years

between 1973 and 1980 abortion rate rose from 16.3 to 29.3. The abortion rate was steady over

the 1980’s and declined in the 1990’s. The drop in abortions indicates that there was a decline in

pregnancies. In 2000, AGI data on abortion states that there were 21.3 abortions performed for

every 1000 women between the ages of 15 and 44, which means that 2.1 percent of women of

childbearing age had an abortion in that year (Levine, 2004). According to data from AGI, there

were 37 percent fewer abortion providers in 2000 compared to those in 1982 (Levine, 2004). The

AGI also reports that abortion providers are located in areas were a lot of people lives, and that

34 percent of women live in countries without an abortion provider (Levine, 2004). In January

2003, the Alan Guttmacher Institute, an independent provider of statistics on U.S. abortion

policies released a report stating that the U.S. abortion rate had dropped to its lowest level in 29

years (Haussman, 2005).

Effects of Abortion

At least 10-20 percent of women that have a history of having one or more abortions

suffer from post-abortion mental health problems. Some women have levels of emotional

distress while others do not look back. Post-abortion psychological change is usually within

weeks or months of the procedure. Studies have shown that a minority of women experience

long term negative effects. According to Coleman et al., (2009), researchers Fergusson,

Horwood, and Ridder, reported that 42 percent of women who had an abortion experienced

4

major depression and 39 percent suffered from anxiety disorders by age 25, 27 percent reported

being suicidal, 6.8 percent showed alcohol dependence and 12.2 percent were abusing drugs.

Fergusson also states that some young women that experience an abortion cause them to have a

traumatic life event, causing them to have a long term mental disorders (Coleman et al., 2009).

Types of Abortions

The method of abortion used depends on the doctor’s preference or the type necessary

due to the age of the fetus. The Suction Curettage, which is also called vacuum aspiration, is the

most frequent type of abortion and it can be performed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Dilation and Evacuation (D&E), is the most common method of terminating a pregnancy

between 16 and 20 weeks. Saline Abortion is usually performed in the second trimester of

pregnancy. Hysterotomy is a Caesarean section. Menstrual Extraction was popular in the early

1970s before abortion was legal and it is still being used today as a home remedy for unwanted

pregnancies. Lastly, the Pharmaceutical Agents is the largest and most controversial abortion-

producing drug produced by pharmaceutical companies (Vought, 1991)

History of Abortion

In the ancient Assyrian Code of the twelfth century Provision 53 ordered that any woman

who aborted herself should be pierced on stakes and left to decay and not buried (Rein, Jacobs,

& Siegel, 1998). Likewise, ancient Jewish law strictly forbids abortion, although it is allowed if

it is to save the life of the mother. In ancient Greece and Rome abortion was used to limit family

size. Both Plato and Aristotle approved of abortion as a means of population control. Some

ancient Greeks opposed abortion because they believed the fetus was no different from a child

outside the womb. In the ancient Roman household, the father was judge and jury when it came

5

to the moral principles of the family. He alone had the authority to order or forbid an abortion

(Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998).

Views on Abortion by Different Religions

The earliest known Christian document that declared abortion a sin was the Didache (100

C.E.). It states, “You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the new born to

perish” (Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998). During the first six centuries of the Roman Catholic

Church, the theologians argued about the starting point of human life. The second Vatican

Council declared abortion a “supreme dishonor to the Creator.” For Muslims fetal development

is divided into three stages, each 40 days long: the semen, the clot, and the lump of flesh. At the

end of these stages, the fetus has a soul. Abortion is forbidden after the end of the third stage

except to save the life of the mother. Reform and conservative Jews believed that abortion is the

choice of the woman. Jewish law does not recognize a fetus, or even an infant under 30 days old

as having legal rights (Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998).

The English Statues on Abortion

In England, the first statue against abortion was the Miscarriage of Women Act (1803),

which punished the administration of drugs to induce abortion (Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998).

An 1828 law prohibited abortion performed with the help of instruments. The Offenses against

the Person Act was passed in 1861 and was the last major English abortion law of the nineteenth

century. It states that anyone obtaining an unlawful abortion could be sentenced to life in prison,

while a person who assisted another in obtaining an abortion could receive a three-year sentence

(Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998). In 1929, Parliament enacted the Infant Life (Preservation) Act,

stating that an abortion was unlawful except when it could be proved necessary to save the

6

mother’s life. In 1968, the Abortion Act of 1967 went into effect. This law permitted abortion if

determined by two doctors that the pregnancy threatened the mental and physical health of the

mother or if the unborn child would suffer physical or mental deformities that would seriously

cause it to be handicap (Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998).

The American Laws on Abortion

The first abortion law in the United States was passed in 1821 in Connecticut. The

Connecticut statue punished abortion only if quickening had occurred (Quickening refers to the

first movement of the fetus in the womb, usually occurring about the middle of the pregnancy

term) (Haussman, 2005). The American Medical Association (AMA) founded in 1847, was

strongly against abortion. Women turned to quacks, friends, pharmacists, and midwives for an

abortion instead of turning to a doctor (Haussman, 2005). The powerful lobbying by the AMA,

from 1862 to 1880 caused the enactment of more than forty anti-abortion statutes by states and

territories. Of these, 13 outlawed abortion for the first time, and 21 revised their old anti-abortion

laws by making them stricter. In 1873, the United States congress passed the Comstock Law.

This law was enacted to ban the dissemination of pornography and birth control devices and also

prohibited the use of abortion devices (Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998). The Comstock Law stayed

in effect for almost four more decades.

On January 8, 1971, President Richard Nixon, signed a law overturning the 98-

year-old federal anti-contraception law. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court legalized

abortion (Rein, Jacobs, & Siegel, 1998). In August 2012, President Bush signed the Born-Alive

Infants Protection Act, which grants federal rights to human fetuses “born alive” at any stage of

development, specifically including those that might occur during an attempted abortion (Kaiser,

7

n.d). Abortions continued despite the new laws that banned it. Abortion was the only form of

birth control to women. In the early twentieth century 1 in 3 pregnancies was terminated

(Solinger, 2001).

Medicaid is a government program that provides health insurance to poor people and is

administered at the state level, but funding comes from federal and state governments (Medoff,

2010). After the abortion legalization, the Medicaid system would cover the cost of abortion.

However, in 1976 Senator Henry Hyde of Illinois sponsored an amendment (known as the “Hyde

Amendment”) that would prohibit federal funds from being used to pay for abortions except for

rape, incest, or if a woman’s health was in danger (Levine, 2004). The Hyde Amendment was

contested in the courts and an injunction was imposed blocking its implementation. In 1980, the

Supreme Court’s rulings eliminated all uncertainties and states that wanted to restrict Medicaid

funding could do so (Levine, 2004).

Adolescents Parental Involvement Law

In 1980 many states enacted the Parental Involvement Law which was enforced by court order.

According to Ohsfeldt and Gohmann (1994), adolescent’s abortion rates are considerably

different. Several pregnant adolescents that live in states that do not have a Parental Involvement

Law volunteer to have their parents involved in their decision to have an abortion. Those

pregnant adolescents from dysfunctional families and fear parental revenge avoid parental

involvement. Abortion clinics fees increases when the age of the fetus is considered to be a late

abortion. As stated by Gold (1990), the average abortion fee at 12 weeks in 1989 was $247

dollars, at 16 weeks $400 dollars, and at 20 weeks $697 dollars. The adolescent abortion rate

8

decreased because of the Parental Involvement Law compared to the abortion rate of older teens

not subject to the law (Ohsfeldt and Gohmann, 1994).

Mandatory Delay Law

Activists and legislators opposed to abortion introduced the Mandatory Delay Law. This

law requires a woman to delay her abortion for a certain number of hours or days after receiving

state-mandated information and being offered information on fetal development and lists of

agencies that provide prenatal care or other services for women who decide to carry their

pregnancies to term (Althaus & Henshaw, 1994). As of August 1994, 15 states have passed and

signed this law into legislation. In these states the waiting period required is 24 hours. Mandatory

Delay Law adds unnecessary cost to clinic operations by increasing the staff needed to answer

calls to provide information and process paperwork (Althaus & Henshaw, 1994).

International Abortion Policies

Listed are some European countries and their abortion policies which may have changed

over the past decade. France legalized abortion in 1975- present and states that abortion is legal

if performed in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy following mandatory counseling and a 1 week

waiting period. Greece legalized abortion in 1978-86 and states that abortion is legal in the first

12 weeks of pregnancy to protect the mother’s physical or mental health only and changed their

policy in 1986- present which states that abortion is legal upon request in the first 12 weeks of

pregnancy (Levine, 2004). Japan legalized abortion in 1949-present and states that abortion is

legal for maternal health or social reasons in the first 22 weeks of pregnancy. Canada legalized

abortion in 1969 to 88 and states that abortion is legal upon the approval of a committee if

9

pregnancy affects life or health of a woman and changed their policy in 1988-present which

states that abortion is legal upon request of no formal gestational limits (Levine, 2004).

Pro-Choice for Abortion

Pro-choice advocates are individuals in favor of allowing women to make up their own

mind rather or not to have a child. Some of the pro-choice organizations are: Clergyman’s

Consultation Service on Problem Pregnancies (established in 1967 in New York), a similar

organization in Chicago called the Service (also known as Jane, was organized in the late 1980’s

on a national level to teach due-it-yourself abortions), the National abortion Rights Action

League (NARAL, organized in 1969 as the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion

Laws, renamed the National Abortion Rights Action League in 1973), Zero Population Growth

(ZPG, 1968), the National Organization for Women (NOW, 1968), and Planned Parenthood

(1942, successor to Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control League of America, founded in 1922,

Sanger’s first clinic was established in 1916 in New York City and was the effective beginning

of the league) (Blanchard, 1994).

Pro-life against Abortion

Pro-life advocates are individuals who believe that abortion is used wrongly as a form of

birth control. Abortion is an act of violence that kills a baby who cannot protect or defend itself

(Blanchard, 1994). Anti-abortion groups started to grow in various states. In 1967, the national

movement established the committee on family life by the National Catholic Bishops’

Conference. One of the largest organizations formed is the National Right to Life Committee

(NRLC). In the late 70’s and early 1980’s radical activist organizations began to surface, such as

the John Ryan’s St. Louis- based Pro-life Direct Action League and Joseph Scheidler’s Pro-life

10

Action League, currently the Pro-life Action Network (PLAN). In the late 1970’s more activists

engaged in picketing clinics and physicians offices and appealing to women entering them not to

“kill” their babies (Blanchard, 1994).

Interview of a Pro-life Advocate

I interviewed Ms. Rita Diller, a pro-life advocate. She is the National Director of

American Life League Stop Planned Parenthood Project. Ms. Diller believes that abortion kills

innocent lives and do not believe in the policies established and states that they should be

outlawed. The American Life League is a non-profit educational organization committed to the

protection of all innocent human beings. According to Ms. Diller, American Life League is not

tied to any church and it is established on moral and ethical principles on the natural law, the

word of God and the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Being pro-life, I am very disappointed in some of my family members and one of my

friends who are using abortions as a means of birth control. When I interviewed two of my

family members, to me, they seem thrilled to say that they have had 1-3 abortions. The abortion

law fits them well, except for the Hyde Amendment because they have a Medicaid card. As I

talked to my friend, I really felt sick because she told me that she had to have a 2 day abortion

procedure. If that is the case, the fetus was well developed and she had to feel the movement of

the baby. I know that in this country women have choices, but when you can feel your baby how

can you abort it? Today she has twins, but, she wanted to abort them also. The only reason she

did not have an abortion is because the doctor told her she was having twins and having an

abortion would put her in much danger.

11

My critique of abortion from what I can see is that the legalization of abortion makes it

possible for women to have safe abortions and not have to turn to quakes, friends, pharmacists,

and midwives for an abortion. On the other hand, because of the Hyde Amendment that prohibits

the use of Medicaid funding for abortions unless a women’s health is in danger, rape, or incest

has still caused poor women to turn to illegal abortions. Legalizing abortion did not take away

the stigma of abortion being labeled as a nasty business. Society leads women to believe that

they have more freedom by allowing them to have an abortion, but they find themselves anything

but free, feeling guilty, shame, anger, grief, lost of self-esteem, and feelings of exploited. The

Parental Involvement Law, to me, takes away the rights of young girls that do not believe in

abortion. It does not allow them to make their own choice. Parents use this law to take away the

embarrassment that they feel because their daughter is pregnant.

Abortions have been performed globally throughout history (Ahman, & Shah, 2010).

Abortion is being used as a means of birth control which makes it a social problem. The effects

of abortion cause women to develop emotional, physical and spiritual problems. Even though

abortion has been legalized it does not take away the stigma of abortion being wrong. Since the

Roe v. Wade, which brought about the legalization of abortion, women can go to abortion

clinics, and have abortions performed by skilled and trained professionals. The Hyde

Amendment was passed in some states to eliminate the use of federal funds to pay for abortions

that has caused women and teens on Medicaid to turn to illegal abortions. There are many types

of abortions, some are crueler than others and the method of abortion used depends on the

doctor’s preference or the type necessary due to the age of the fetus. There are many pro-choice

and pro-life organizations in effect today. Pro-choice advocates believe that women have a

choice to make up their own mind rather or not to have a child. Pro-life advocates believe that

12

abortion is used wrongly as a form of birth control and is against God’s commandment. I

personally view abortion the same as the pro-life advocates.

13

References

Ahman, E, & Shah, I (2010). Unsafe Abortion in 2008: Global and Regional Levels and Trends.

Reproductive Health Matters, 18 (36) 90. Retrieved November 10, 2010 from

http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE

%7CA247520178&v=2.1&u=lom_waynesu&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Althaus, F. A., & Henshaw, S. K., (1994). The effects of Mandatory Delay Laws on Abortion

and Providers. Family Planning Perspective, 26 (5) 228. Retrieved February 22, 2012 from

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/224559116?accountid= 14925

Blanchard, D. A., (1994). The Anti-abortion Movement and the Rise of the Religious Right:

From Polite to Fiery Protest. New York: Twayne.

Coleman, P. K., Maxey, C. D., Spence, M. & Nixon, C. L., (2009). Predictors and Correlates of

Abortion in the Fragile Families and Well-Being Study: Paternal Behavior, Substance Use, and

Partner Violence. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction 7(3) 405-422. Retrieved

from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/61455333?accountid=14925

Haussman, M. (2005). Abortion Politics in North America. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

Kaiser, H. J., (n.d). Abortion Policy and Politics. Retrieved October 11, 2012, from

http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/

getfile.cfm&PageID=14091

Levine, P. B., (2004) Sex and Consequences: Abortion, Public Policy, and the Economics of

Fertility. Princeton: Princeton and Oxford

14

Medoff, M. (2010). The impact of State Abortion Policies on Teen Pregnancy Rates. Social

Indicators Research, 97 (2) 177-189. Retrieved November 1, 2011 from

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/197620634?accountid=14925

Ohsfeldt, R. L., & Gohmann, S. F., (1994). Do Parental Involvement Laws Reduce Adolescent

Abortion Rates? Contemporary Economic Policy, 12 (2) 65. Retrieved October 4, 2011 from

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/274334259?accountid=14925

Podell, J. (1990). Abortion. New York: H. W. Wilson.

Rein, M. L., Jacobs N. R., and Siegel, M. A., (1998). Abortion: An Eternal Social and Moral

Issue. Wylie: Information Plus

Solinger, R. (2001). Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption,

Abortion, and Welfare in the United States. New York: Hill and Wang.

Vought, J. (1991). Post-abortion Trauma: 9 Steps to Recovery. Grand Rapids: Zondervan