Abortion

Contention 1-Demographics Demographics are essential to understanding the real benefits of an abortion. Abortion is usually the better choice rather than going through with the pregnancy: -42% of women that get an abortion are below the poverty line -27 percent have incomes within 200 percent of the poverty line. -Together that makes 69% percent of the women getting an abortion economically disadvantaged. -Women under 20 account for 18% of the abortions Having a child for any of these women would create a negative impact on them and the child. Contention 2-Benefits I will be specifically talking about the benefits that the women listed in the demographics would receive from the abortion. It is hard to raise a child if one is below the poverty line. It takes 241,000 dollars to raise a child. This already creates a negative impact on all women listed in the demographics. 42% of Women that get abortions make less than 23,000 dollars. You have to think about the negative implications of raising a child when you are below the poverty line. One cannot just have a child. You have to think about: 1. The well-being of the child. 2. Can you provide food for the child? Life below the poverty line is stressful. One must be able to create a stable income in order to raise a child. Also, the woman who is pregnant also needs to have a stable life, and not drive herself to the breaking point. Single parents must provide greater support for their children while they themselves may feel alone. Benefits: -Not making a poor woman's life harder. -Making a poor person's objective to create a stable foundation for having children. -Not making the child's life harder. -Not having parent's feel the emotional impact of being lonely. Contention 3-Harms of not having an Abortion The harms of not having an abortion effect both the child and the parent. The average cost of raising a child is 241,000 dollars. The actual effects it has on poor families is devastating for everyone involved. Here is an excerpt of a book that gives just a tiny hint on what it is like everyday as a single mom. "As a homeless, unwed, teen mom, I often wondered if anyone could hear me. Did anyone hear me cry at night? Did anyone hear the screams? Did anyone understand my struggles? Was the pain on the outside of me as loud as it was on the inside? Would we eat tonight or go hungry again?"-By Jennifer Barnes Maggio Research was done by Jacqueline Kirby, M.S. from Ohio State University which give empirical evidence of the harms of single-parenting. Research: -Indicates that children from single-parent families live less healthy lives. -Children growing up with one parent have a higher probability of dropping out of school. -Trouble keeping jobs as young adults. -Mother-only families are more likely to be poor because of the lower earning capacity of women, -The median annual income for female-headed households with children under six years old is roughly one-fourth that of two-parent families. -Approximately 53 percent of single mothers are not in the work force because they are unable to find affordable, quality, child care - The majority of these mothers have no high school diploma, leaving them with few job opportunities or jobs that pay only the minimum wage. -Parents with two or more children often have little money left after paying taxes and child care. -Single parents experience a variety of stressors related to poverty (i.e., financial, emotional, social). -Financial strain is one of the strongest predictors of depression in single parents Works Cited: http://prospect.org......http://www3.uakron.edu......