Abortion Worldwide—New Evidence Points
The evidence from around the world is clear: Levels of unintended pregnancy and abortion are declining globally as contraceptive use continues to increase, but unsafe abortion still harms and kills far too many women. Boosting access to family planning, providing safe abortion services and mitigating the impact of unsafe abortion should be priorities for policymakers, but national governments and donor countries alike often don’t do enough, according to “Facts and Consequences: Legality, Incidence and Safety of Abortion Worldwide by Susan A. Cohen
One country that can and should do more is the United States. While the United States is the single largest donor to family planning overseas, its contribution is only about half of the $1 billion that it committed to providing. And while the United States has reaffirmed its support for postabortion care, including treatment for = septic or incomplete abortion, it could go further by supporting safe abortions directly—within the limits of the Helms Amendment—to save a woman’s life and in instances of rape or incest.
Who has access to Abortion in the United States
The issue of Medicaid funding goes to the heart of who has access to abortion in the United States and under what circumstances. Numerous studies have demonstrated the negative impact that Hyde Amendment restrictions can have on poor women facing an unwanted pregnancy. Lacking Medicaid coverage, some require a considerable amount of time to come up with the money to pay for an abortion on their own, often pulling resources from other family necessities, such as food or rent. As the cost of the procedure increases with gestation, low-income women may become trapped in a vicious cycle of scrambling to raise enough money before the cost increases further. Still, in a testament to their determination to control their own childbearing and act in their best interest and that of their families, some women do manage to obtain the abortion under these circumstances.
Other women, however, are left with no recourse but to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. According to a 2009 report by the Guttmacher
Institute and Ibis Reproductive Health, based on an extensive review of the literature, approximately one in four women who would obtain a Medicaid-funded abortion if given the option instead have to continue their pregnancy.
The omnibus FY 2010 appropriations bill allowing the District to pay for medically necessary abortions using local funds is an important step in the right direction because it can help lessen the disproportionate barriers poor women encounter in seeking access to a safe abortion procedure. Rather than trying to reduce women’s recourse to abortion through coercive measures, U.S. policy—even as it guarantees access to those women who need an abortion—should focus on reducing unintended pregnancy, the underlying cause of almost all abortions, by actively promoting contraceptive use and ensuring universal access to family planning services.
Yes, it is your choice, any woman has the right to access abortion services.
But if you are confused about how you feel about abortion, you could talk to family or close friends. But if you prefer to speak to a counsellor your GP will be able to refer you to one or you can asccess to consellor though a private clinic.
President Obama confirms that there are more works that ought to be done before he finally settled for a decision, while he also takes for consideration the upheavals thrown by abortion-right groups over the ban of House Healthcare Bill on abortion coverage in a federally subsidized health insurance plans.
The president further stresses that he will never mess the set principle that has been used for quite a long period of time, by which federal dollars are not employed in order to subsidize abortions. He also said that he would not like to sneak out funds for abortions but he will make sure not to sacrifice the right of every woman to choose an insurance plan. If a woman like her chosen insurance plan, so be it. In view of this, the president is aware that it will take him a big deal of effort to properly decide.
This is good news for those abortion-rights groups which said that the ban in House bills’ abortion coverage among government-subsidized healthcare plans will only mess up women who will have to shift their current plans into public plans or those given through government-run health insurance exchange. On the other hand, this is bad news for abortion critics who believe that the passed House healthcare bill just thrive in expanding status quo, which rebuff abortion’s federal funds.
In a nutshell, it will be easier for Obama and the Democrats to suggest that the current bill goes too far than to deal with the blizzard of the fuming foes if they do not say that the bill does go too far. After all, it is easier to be on the side of the offensive rather than be in the defensive.
