Honest Question about Abortion

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Hello! Before I ask my question I want to make it perfectly clear that I am asking this with all sincerity. I am not trying to be rude or inconsiderate to anyone and/or their beliefs. My question is: I understand that a part of being Catholic is being pro-life. However, what does anyone suppose we (as a society) do with all the unwanted children born due to unplanned pregnancies? I am not advocating for abortion but I am all to familiar with the millions of American children suffering in the foster system right now. These children were born to parents that for one reason or another could not provide adequate care for them. These children will not be adopted and have no supportive social network.(NO I am not saying they should of been aborted). As Catholics we belive that we abstain from sex when unmarried and within marriage children are blessing from God. Many people do not believe this way because America is a pluralistic society;others hold different views. Are we right to advocate for life and impose our beliefs on people who do not believe as us (i.e., other religious faiths)?
 
Consider that you are asking, in effect, whether some lives are not worth living. The Catholic answer is simple: All lives are worth living. If you want to, you can dig very, very deep into this theology, it has given many people a totally transformed view of life.
 
What we do is to develop programs and attitudes that support loving adoptions. In some states most of the children in foster care are not available for adoption. The foster care system needs an overhaul. But a eugenic clearing of the foster homes is not the answer.

Also, we have to deal with the consequences of our culture of death. Since abortion became legal, respect for all life had diminished. This has led, in many cases, to an increase in child abuse and neglect. So abortion is the cause of much of what you describe, not a solution.
 
Yes, that’s good stuff Corki…but let’s reiterate that abortion is wrong no matter whether a given society is really good or really bad at taking care of orphans.
 
These questions make me feel old.

It may be difficult to believe, but, in 1971 the streets of the US were not filled with roaming packs of unwanted children, there were not abandoned orphans overflowing every park.

When abortion becomes illegal, good law abiding people will no longer have abortions. They will think twice about having casual sex, they will care for their children or they will place those children for adoption.
 
kage, we can’t turn back the clock!

Heh heh…just kidding. Of course we could. We need to. We have to.
 
These questions make me feel old.

It may be difficult to believe, but, in 1971 the streets of the US were not filled with roaming packs of unwanted children, there were not abandoned orphans overflowing every park.

When abortion becomes illegal, good law abiding people will no longer have abortions. They will think twice about having casual sex, they will care for their children or they will place those children for adoption.
Indeed, the social ills which abortions are alleged to solve have blossomed dramatically in the past 36 years since Roe v Wade. Kids have now become disposable–even those who manage to escape the abortionist. And with them, so have we all.
 
Enrolled adoptive parents who are still waiting for a child outnumber children in the system around seven to one right now. These are the parents already approved and signed up, who have the room ready and just need the child. I know a couple who have taken seven kids; most are older, disabled children. Many adoptive parents want multiple children and will take older kids eagerly. There is a myth of choosiness among adopters, but actually it’s the other way around. The people placing the child have the pick of parents to give them to. Parents wait year after year, begging and competing for each one.
If twice as many people qualified to adopt – all that would have to be loosened is the financial requirement, which is strict considering these couples are trying to save a child’s life – then there would be enough adoptive parents to allow every child in the system now, and every child who faces abortion, a loving home.
If abortion were illegal, around half the unwanted pregnancies just wouldn’t happen, too. People would be more careful. Some would choose to control themselves.
Without abortion, at the current rate of pregnancy, there would be 28% more live births. With half as many inconvenient babies conceived in the first place, there would be 14% more live births. That’s 2.05 children per woman. In the unlikely event that conception rates remained the same, it would mean 2.3 children per woman. Currently the average American woman has 1.8 children over her life. That would mean a difference of one child per two women and two men per reproductive life. With rapidly escalating infertility, even such an increase, unlikely as it would be to happen at all, would have little effect on the adoption balance. It would still be far easier to find adoptive parents than to find a child to adopt, for a very long time to come.
 
Enrolled adoptive parents who are still waiting for a child outnumber children in the system around seven to one right now. These are the parents already approved and signed up, who have the room ready and just need the child. I know a couple who have taken seven kids; most are older, disabled children. Many adoptive parents want multiple children and will take older kids eagerly. There is a myth of choosiness among adopters, but actually it’s the other way around. The people placing the child have the pick of parents to give them to. Parents wait year after year, begging and competing for each one.
If twice as many people qualified to adopt – all that would have to be loosened is the financial requirement, which is strict considering these couples are trying to save a child’s life – then there would be enough adoptive parents to allow every child in the system now, and every child who faces abortion, a loving home.
If abortion were illegal, around half the unwanted pregnancies just wouldn’t happen, too. People would be more careful. Some would choose to control themselves.
Without abortion, at the current rate of pregnancy, there would be 28% more live births. With half as many inconvenient babies conceived in the first place, there would be 14% more live births. That’s 2.05 children per woman. In the unlikely event that conception rates remained the same, it would mean 2.3 children per woman. Currently the average American woman has 1.8 children over her life. That would mean a difference of one child per two women and two men per reproductive life. With rapidly escalating infertility, even such an increase, unlikely as it would be to happen at all, would have little effect on the adoption balance. It would still be far easier to find adoptive parents than to find a child to adopt, for a very long time to come.
Back in the '40s and '50s, women were more carefull about having sex, even with people they knew and liked. There was a high degree of shame associated with getting pregnant outside marriage , as is attested by the movie, “A Summer Place.” Like most movies, of course, it was an exaggeration, and the degree of shame varried from place to place. But it sure helped retard the illegitimacy rate. There was also many shotgun marriages that didn’t work out, but at least it helped dampen the problem.
 
Hello!
I wanted to thank everyone for replying to my question. Your answers were helpful and beneficial. Since posting the question (and reading the reponses and talking with a friend of mine) I think that the state of society is sad. I believe that every life is worth living, however, I was more focused on the children that languish in the foster care system. These are children I work with and find it heartbreaking the things that were done to them and the severe psychological distress they now endure; and due to their severe behavioral issues are very hard to place with loving families temporarily let alone permanently (at least in my state). I have to agree that if abortion were illegal people would think twice about casual sex and the consequences of sex would be taken more seriously.
I am sorry to say that we live in society where human life and the value of that life is disregarded. The value of family is disregarded and taking responsibilty for one’s actions is unheard of. However, I feel that without a huge “moral reform” things will not change. We are all brothers and sisters! Have a good day and thanks!
 
These questions make me feel old.

It may be difficult to believe, but, in 1971 the streets of the US were not filled with roaming packs of unwanted children, there were not abandoned orphans overflowing every park.

When abortion becomes illegal, good law abiding people will no longer have abortions. They will think twice about having casual sex, they will care for their children or they will place those children for adoption.
In the early 70’s we had homes for kids whose parents couldn’t take care of them. One of those homes is still open, but it is for kids who are “problem children”, meaning that they are unable to live in a home setting. There are no homes for kids whose parents are the problem.
 
Aren’t there kids in foster care who were wanted during pregnancy but after they were born weren’t wanted anymore? I know of a few cases like this. One couple married young and had 2 children right away. When the children were still toddlers, the mother left her husband and children and moved in with another man. Soon after that the husband started dating other women and stopped taking care of the children, so the grandparents took over. They are teenagers now and have been raised by their grandparents most of their lives. Neither parent has much to do with the children now, and both children (now teenagers) have a lot of psychological problems. I know of another couple who had 2 kids and seemed happily married. Then the mother left the husband and the children and got a new boyfriend. The children are being raised by the father and his parents. The mother rarely sees the children.

Our society seems to be saying it’s better to be killed (by abortion) than to be unwanted. But what should we do with the unwanted children who are already born? It sure doesn’t seem like abortion has done much to reduce “unwantedness.” There are probably more unwanted and abused children now than there have ever been.
 
Hello!
I wanted to thank everyone for replying to my question. Your answers were helpful and beneficial. Since posting the question (and reading the reponses and talking with a friend of mine) I think that the state of society is sad. I believe that every life is worth living, however, I was more focused on the children that languish in the foster care system. These are children I work with and find it heartbreaking the things that were done to them and the severe psychological distress they now endure; and due to their severe behavioral issues are very hard to place with loving families temporarily let alone permanently (at least in my state). I have to agree that if abortion were illegal people would think twice about casual sex and the consequences of sex would be taken more seriously.
I am sorry to say that we live in society where human life and the value of that life is disregarded. The value of family is disregarded and taking responsibilty for one’s actions is unheard of. However, I feel that without a huge “moral reform” things will not change. We are all brothers and sisters! Have a good day and thanks!
I am guessing that many of those children were taken from homes and as a result of ongoing legal battles are not available for addoption. You also have a culture where welfare influences peoples decisions to have children. Instead of using abortion to kill these kids off, we should have penalties for the parrents who create these situations.
 
BE A LEADER! HOW CAN PRO-LIFE BE WRONG? WE NEED A BIG CHANGE IN DIRECTION. LIKE A TRUE PRO-LIFE PRO-FAMILY POLICY LIKE:
  1. Have a before marriage abstinence campaign like we do against drugs and cigarettes. Goal reduce high risk pregnancies by 50% in 10 years.
  2. Outlaw abortions. This will have immediate results and leads to #3.
  3. With 1M more babies when #2 is enacted we need a comprehensive plan to address this.
    **4. Establish national adoption program that covers the whole process of adoption. **
    **5. Create a Family Czar cabinet position. Administer the #1, comprehensive plan for #3 and #4. **
Don’t you think it would be better to have a Pro-Life policy? Does it seem strange to say you are Pro-Life?
 
I am guessing that many of those children were taken from homes and as a result of ongoing legal battles are not available for addoption. You also have a culture where welfare influences peoples decisions to have children. Instead of using abortion to kill these kids off, we should have penalties for the parrents who create these situations.
If you disagree with a behavior, you can’t support it. So, while most Americans believe that it’s wrong to have kids that you can’t afford (and especially wrong to do it when you aren’t married and have multiple kids w/ multiple partners), they vote for people who support increases in the social programs that make that behavior possible - and even attractive to some.

I’ll never understand why people live and think one way, but vote another. How did any Catholic vote for Obama?!

Anyway, my solution to the problem.

Anyone can make a “mistake”. People sometimes believe that it can’t happen to them. If we’re honest, we have to acknoweldge that some women and teens are genuinely suprised and disbeleiving when they find out they’re pregnant after having unprotected sex. It’s stupid, but it’s true.

OK. We’ll give them that once. No one can be surprised twice. If they are surprised the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th times, they’ll be even more surprised when my proposal is adopted by the thinking people of America. (I can dream.)

Each person, if he’s poor, can have one child on welfare for 2 moths if they choose to work, or 2 years and 3 months if they choose to get an education. Most American women don’t get 3 months paid maternity leave, much less 2 years and 3 months. And most men get no maternity leave at all–even unpaid. But that amount of time is sufficient for both parents to complete a 2-yr program at any community college or trade school, at the students’ expense. If the school has scholarships that they want to give the students, good for the students. But the students will not recieve grants from the fed gov’t or state ahead of people who aren’t already recieving aid. You can only go to the well so many tmes. There are others who deserve help, too.

At the 2 years and 3 months mark, the parents will sink or swim on their own. If the parents are unable or unwilling to work, the state will charge them with neglect in the case of normal intelligence of one or the other of the parents, or else the state will have to declare the parents unfit and a case worker will be assigned to decide where the child will do best.

If the parents refuse to go to school or work to support their kid at any time in the 2 years and 3 months period, they will be charged with neglect and will explain themselves to the judge.

If they are deemed to be unable to work or go to school in the same period, a case worker will be assigned to assess the situation. This will be done with the child’s welfare being the only consideration.

The parents don’t have to be married. They don’t have to be speaking to each other. They don’t have to have rights to even see the child. They are the parents and they are responsible for that baby.

Now, if one of the parents has a baby with another person, that other persoon is out of luck.

I’ll take the father as an example. The father, Tom, has a baby with Susan. They were poor and unmarried, so the state gave aid to the baby for the 2 years and 3 months period. They are now responsilbe for that baby.

6 months later he finds out that Julia is pregnant with his baby. Julia applies for aid when the baby is born. Unfortunately for Julia, she didn’t know Tom well, and didn’t know that he had already had a baby or that the baby had already recieved aid from the state.

Since a person is allowed only one child on welfare in a lifetime, Julia’s application is denied.

I’m sure this plan will catch a few people in the beginning.

This plan, though, will force people to at least know the person they’re having sex with. And it will force them to consider the consequences of their actions before they act, instead of thinking after the fact–if then.

They are the parents, and they are responsible. The idea that you can have a kid and everyone else will pay has to become, again, a horrible idea.

Do you remember when planning to have a baby on welfare was considered a bad thing? When not caring that other people were paying your way,and thinking that it’s only right that others do, was something to be embarrassed about? When choosing not to work to support your kids was widely known to be a sin? When having sex with someone before marriage who had had a baby with someone else while not married was considered sleezy—and stupid?

We all complain about morals today, yet more than 1/2 the country voted for people who want to increase funding to the social programs that support the immoral behavior.

Put your money, and your vote, where your mouth is. You can’t say that A is better and vote for B. You can’t say that B is wrong and then pay to support B.

Take a stand.
 
It doesn’t matter. Everyone suffers. Unfortunately some of the people suffering are children without a home or a loving family. We must pray that they can find peace and love in their situation. I’ve been through a lot of suffering myself, I don’t wish that I was aborted so I could of prevented that.

The idea that abortion will relieve suffering, or will prevent suffering is a work of the devil trying to justify this horrible prodecure.

Once we start down the road of doing immoral things and covering them up as merciful, or freedom, or relief there is no limit to the evil that can be done.
 
Hello! Before I ask my question I want to make it perfectly clear that I am asking this with all sincerity. I am not trying to be rude or inconsiderate to anyone and/or their beliefs. My question is: I understand that a part of being Catholic is being pro-life. However, what does anyone suppose we (as a society) do with all the unwanted children born due to unplanned pregnancies? I am not advocating for abortion but I am all to familiar with the millions of American children suffering in the foster system right now. These children were born to parents that for one reason or another could not provide adequate care for them. These children will not be adopted and have no supportive social network.(NO I am not saying they should of been aborted).
First of all, there is no such thing as an unwanted child. And what crystal ball is it that fortells these children will not be adopted and no supportive social network.
As Catholics we belive that we abstain from sex when unmarried and within marriage children are blessing from God. Many people do not believe this way because America is a pluralistic society;others hold different views.
Correct, many people don’t believe that murder is wrong, especially if someone elses life would inconvenience them.
Are we right to advocate for life and impose our beliefs on people who do not believe as us (i.e., other religious faiths)?
Yes. We have an obligation to protect the lives of others from those who would have them killed because they believe it is okay to kill them.
 
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