From: dan@Ingres.COM (a Rose arose)
Subject: Re: Abortions should be rare
Organization: Ingres, an ASK Company, Alameda CA 94501
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: 26 Jan 93 18:51:56 GMT

Although we stand on opposite sides of the choice/life contraversy, here is a
message from a pro-choicer that touches the heart and speaks of goals I feel
should be strongly desired by both sides.

	Dan

---------------------------------------

cj@eno.esd.sgi.com.esd.sgi.com (C.J. Silverio) writes:
: 
: In article <1993Jan25.115252.2129@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu>, hasselbring@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu writes:
: |According to both the Washington Post and the Washington Times, 
: |Clinton said that America should be a place where abortions are legal 
: |and safe, but rare.  
: |I wonder what he meant by rare.  [...]
: 
: Less common than they are now.  I can think of a few great
: ways to make abortion rare, without persecuting women by 
: making it illegal:
: 
: 1.  Better access to better birth control. 
: 2.  Better sex education.
: 3.  Improved pre-natal care for poor women.
: 4.  Improved access to day care for women with children.
: 5.  Job training for women with small children.
: 
: The approach is simple:  prevent unwanted pregnancies, and
: remove the circumstances that make women decide to choose
: abortion.  Prevention is by far the most cost-effective method.
: The others are more expensive, but I'm sure you won't mind
: paying for them.
: 
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<Dan's notes>  I think we could have greater success if we could do the
following:
	1--Encourage "morality" while providing better access to birth control.
	   This would help reduce much of the counter-productive fighting
	   between "family-value" folks and "liberals".  By this I mean to
	   show a positive rather than a negative view toward those who choose
	   to abstain and remain monogamous.  Stop presenting abstainers as
	   childish prudes who cannot get a date and start representing them as
	   self-disciplined, respectable, and wise people and you'll go far to
	   remove much of the fighting back of the "family-values" folks.  It's
	   also a more honest approach.
	2--Provide a more complete and morally acceptable sex education.  Why?
	   First, because many feel sick of the "immorality" and feel overly
	   offended over what they feel is being forced upon their families.
	   Second, because it is more expedient and efficient to present a
	   wider exposure to sex education if you can do so without all the
	   fighting between "family-values" folks and "liberals".  If we can
	   set aside our desires to "stick it to each other", much more good
	   can be accomplished.
	3--Improved pre-natal care for poor women--can you imagine the fear
	   of having to go through pregnancy not knowing if your child is
	   breach or in distress, or if you were going to be able to have
	   an emergency ceasarean if you needed it?  This is a basic need
	   that is as important if not more so than meeting the needs of the
	   homeless and cancer stricken.  It must, must be met.
	4--Improved access to day-care.  This is another sore point for
	   church folks as well as others.  Why?  Because many Sunday School
	   rooms unused during the week go unused from lack of government
	   funding for day-care centers that have any religious displays or
	   teachings presented.  If I want to take my child to a religious
	   day-care center of my choice, I will either have to pay more or
	   put up with lower quality or forget it.  Why not let down a little
	   on government restrictions on religion and take advantage of the
	   rooms that are already available and ready?
	5--Job training for women with small children.  I'd like to take this
	   one step further--how about job availability for women with small
	   children?  That is, why not give tax breaks and/or special
	   recognition for those companies who provide jobs that meet the
	   needs of single women (and men) with small children?  I know that
	   many feel this encourages people to have children out of wedlock
	   and makes it easier for people to divorce, but I doubt it seriously.
	   And we all know that the children and their providers need all the
	   help we can give.