by Ryan Harron

Created on: August 24, 2007

Like many issues that are presented on the national stage, the debate about legal abortion is one that becomes easily filled with heightened emotions. For true discussion to take place on this subject, however, it is important to remove the subject from its emotional milieu.

The first point on which it may be agreed is that, with all other things being equal, less abortions is preferable to more abortions. For the person opposed to legal abortion, the benefit of less abortion is obvious. Less obvious may be how lessened abortion rates could benefit those in favour of legal abortion. With all other factors remaining equal, lower abortion rates would result in freeing up medical resources that could then be used in other aspects of the healthcare industry.

That being said, what are the best ways to reduce the number of abortions being performed? In the past, methods such as criminalizing abortion and abstinence promotion have been attempted: however, both history and sociology have shown these to be both inefficient and potentially dangerous. A woman who has committed herself to terminating a pregnancy will do so regardless of the legal or moral issues surrounding it.

If traditional methods of reducing abortion rates have been demonstrated ineffective, what alternatives exist? To answer that question, we must first think about the reasons why someone would consider abortion as an option.

One of the important realities that surrounds the choice to become a parent is the financial aspect. From a purely economic perspective, children can be a burden: in addition to the daily costs of supporting a child, there often required upgrading of house and car in order to have space for the child, and it is possible that a new parent may have to take reduced hours or pass up promotions in order to care for the child. While parenting no doubt also comes with its rewards, it is impossible to ignore the financial burden as well. One way, then, to reduce unwanted pregnancy (and therefore abortion) is to increase the financial status of the working classes. By doing this, it will become easier for many young mothers to choose to keep a child that they might otherwise abort.

In addition to worrying about day-to-day concerns, most parents are also concerned with a stable future for their children. Potential parents that can see a bright future for their child would be more likely to have that child. While there are many different factors that could be considered in this area, any comprehensive list would include factors such as environmental sustainability, affordable healthcare, high-quality public education, universal access to post-secondary education, and peaceful international relations. All of these factors must be considered, then, when promoting an anti-abortion agenda.

One last way to combat abortion is through the education of young people. Recently, many programs of sexual education have focused primarily on abstinence as a way to avoid both pregnancy and STDs. These programs, however, have not proven themselves effective. The most effective methods have proven themselves to be those that provide young people with accurate information in an open, shame-free environment, as well as those that ensure youth have access to contraceptives. Ensuring that all sexual health education programs are run in this way would be the single most effective move that could be taken to reduce abortion rates.

Financial burdens, despair for the future, and limited access to and information about contraception are among the primary reasons that women seek out abortions. To truly support an anti-abortion agenda, then, one must also be willing to support those agendas politically - we ignore them to our peril.

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