Science and the pro-life movement

[fnr]

I’m a health scientist, formally trained in epidemiology and biology. I’m also a Catholic, and think abortion is murder.

We live in a pluralistic society. In order to create a culture of life, we need to deal with diverse beliefs and be able to talk in words that don’t depend on our Catholic faith. In terms of public policy, this was recognized in Roe v. Wade (1973):
“*we do not agree that, by adopting one theory of life, Texas may override the rights of the pregnant woman that are at stake. *”
Given that, the pro-life movement needs objective science.

Based on numerous conversations I’ve had with the pro-life movement, and a review of “summaries” on web sites like National Right to Life’s, the movement does not seem rely on systematic research to move its position forward. Instead, it highlights discrepant papers in an attempt to establish a biological basis for state interest in restricting abortion. While the strategy has had success in state legislative chambers, it has failed to pass the bar of Federal judicial review. Most recently, the Ninth Circuit Federal court blocked the Arizona law based on “fetal pain” claims that stretch beyond the current state of neurodevelopmental science.

In contrast, advocates against restricting abortion publish frequently in scientific journals (e.g., the Guttmacher Institute’s publication record).

The result is that in scholarly law articles, the scientific claims of advocates outside the pro-life movement are dominant. To cite a recent such law article by an official working in a U.S. Federal Court:
“The empirical evidence, besides offering a way out of the fetal life dilemma, powerfully undercuts the current rhetorical approach of the pro-life movement— abortion harms women—instead showing that abortion has benefited women and helped equalize their role in society.
…]
Second, the empirical evidence shows that, on balance, abortion has given women an equal chance at the full and unfettered participation in all facets of life.
…]
All of these examples empirically support the argument that abortion bans (or substantial early-pregnancy regulation) run afoul of the underlying principles of the Fourteenth Amendment: ‘prohibiting caste legislation, subordinating legislation, and arbitrary and unjust discrimination.’”

It’s not just advocates against restricting abortion making these critiques of pro-life science. The following text was in a report linked on the NRTL web page by Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green State U.:
“Innovative approaches that actively rely on long established scientific methods and make use of published data offer considerable hope for bringing more cohesion to a complex literature that for many years was fraught with conflicting results and polarized interpretations. The success of such an effort will ultimately require a commitment on the part of scientists, leaders of academic and professional organizations, and journal editors to set aside their personal ideological commitments, look honestly at all the published data, and work in concert on behalf of the millions of women who consider abortion and have the right to information that will facilitate appropriate decision-making.”

This 2011 call for pro-life researchers to adopt standard methods for systematic data analysis suggests to me that the movement is way behind the curve. I note that the author of the article I cite has recently been criticized for study methodology in her work on mental health impacts of abortion (to which she has published corrections), which appears to be an ongoing debate.

Here are a few examples of empirical claims I’ve heard from people in the pro-life movement, and my evaluation of those statements with available data.

“The U.S. has the greatest number (or rate) of abortions worldwide.” That may have been true once, but populations have shifted globally and in the U.S., rates have been dropping faster than other places. In a paper by Sedgh et al. (2012), there were 1.4 million abortions reported in “Northern America,” and 27.3 million in Asia (I’d thank the one child policy in China for that, plus a large population) and 6.4 million in Africa. The paper provides estimates that in “Northern America”, 19% of pregnancies end in abortion, while the statistics are 22% for Asia, 25% in Latin America, and 30% for Europe (driven by Eastern Europe).

“Unborn babies feel pain beginning from the seventh week of gestation.” I came across two recent review articles on the topic. The first, already cited, by two Italian researchers, concludes that, “Most studies disclose the possibility of fetal pain in the third trimester of gestation. This evidence becomes weaker before this date, though we cannot exclude its increasing presence since the beginning of the second half of the gestation.” Another review article, from 2005, concludes, “*Evidence regarding the capacity for fetal pain is limited but indicates that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester. *”

“There are serious complications of induced abortion.” There’s a book cited in the pro-life movement as a scientific proof that abortion harms women. It’s called Aborted Women, Silent No More by David C. Reardon. The book is based largely on women who received their abortions from 1974-1978 and who underwent a religious conversion within the following 10 years and joined WEBA, a Christian anti-abortion group. The survey reported a post-surgical hemorrhage rate of 15% - in 2010 surveillance data I’ve reviewed from Michigan Dept of Community Health, the rate was under 0.01 percent. That suggests to me that the WEBA members were either “worst case” in their post-abortion outcomes or that abortion practices have become safer over time. In any case, the Michigan data also strongly suggest that the rate of immediate and long-term complication of induced abortion is generally lower than the rate of complication from vaginal live birth, the adverse effects of which include incontinence, infection, and post-partum depression. In general, abortion is no more dangerous that other surgical procedures.

“Eliminating partial-birth abortion will save many lives.” In fact, according to the statistics report on abortion surveillance by the National Center for Health Statistics, every year between 1999 and 2008, 95% of abortions took place at gestational age of 17 weeks or less. 90% took place at gestational age 13 weeks or less. As of 2002, >50% took place below gestational age 8 weeks.

I’m writing this because I believe that if the pro-life movement ever wants to pass muster constitutionally, it must go much farther in showing that the unborn merit the protection of the state against the wishes of a mother wishing to abort her pregnancy. This requires top-notch science.

In the mean time, changing culture is a much more fruitful endeavor, in my eyes, one that does not involve the divisiveness of partisan politics. In my eyes, partisan politics prevent us from realizing the Kingdom of God. However, abortion statistics give us clues as to how we might most effectively reduce abortion while building the Kingdom.

First, nationally, it’s clear that abortion is a culturally driven phenomenon. State level abortion statistics vary widely across the country, with abortion ratios per 1000 live births ranging from <100 in Kentucky, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming to >300 in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York (over 700 in New York City, the national hotspot).

Secondly, it’s not at all clear that the legal status of abortion affects its rate. In the paper by Sedgh et al., cited above, globally, regions with the most stringent anti-abortion laws, on average, had higher rates of abortion, generally of the illegal variety. For example, the abortion rate remains high in many Latin American countries, despite having national bans in most places (this motivated the Mexican government to loosen its restrictions on abortion). This suggests that legal change, without cultural change, may not have that great an effect on abortion rates. We already have evidence in the U.S. that people skirt state restrictions by traveling to other states.

Third, abortion rates vary substantially by race/age. Black women’s abortion rates are much higher than white women’s. ~50% of abortions take place among women under 25 years old. The odds of getting an abortion are highest (in order) among ages <15, 15-19, 20-24, and 40 and over. This suggests there are two types of women getting abortions: first, women who are economically vulnerable, largely due to their place in life (and possibly their prospects for stable partners); secondly, women over 40 may be receiving abortion at high rates due to concerns about Downs syndrome or other conditions.

These factors spell out to me an alternative pro-life pathway I hope succeeds: getting involved in the lives of young people at an early age.

 

[april32010]

don’t mind me,just hanging out

 

[jediliz]

we do use science…we try to get laws passed requiring the ultrasound screen to be SHOWN to the women…but planned parenthood FIGHTS this because they don’t want the woman to SEE HER BABY and CHANGE HER MIND

And aborion providers such as Carhart would not exist if women somehow came up with reasons to abort later in pregnancy…I once read that one reason was to go to a CONCERT.

We are also passing laws essentially banning abortions after 20 weeks because of fetal pain.

 

[MarcoPolo]

I’m a health scientist, formally trained in epidemiology and biology. I’m also a Catholic, and think abortion is murder.

Thanks for your thoughts. I think the Catholic position on pro-life must be grounded on the immorality of abortion. The scientific angles should be ancillary to that foundation. Otherwise, we set ourselves up for greater failure when science removes “pain” from infants, for instance, when the act will still be wrong.

 

[edwest2]

I’m a health scientist, formally trained in epidemiology and biology. I’m also a Catholic, and think abortion is murder.

It’s not just advocates against restricting abortion making these critiques of pro-life science. The following text was in a report linked on the NRTL web page by Priscilla Coleman of Bowling Green State U.:
"Innovative approaches that actively rely on long established scientific methods and make use of published data offer considerable hope for bringing more cohesion to a complex literature that for many years was fraught with conflicting results and polarized interpretations. The success of such an effort will ultimately require a commitment on the part of scientists, leaders of academic and professional organizations, and journal editors to set aside their personal ideological commitments, look honestly at all the published data, and work in concert on behalf of the millions of women who consider abortion and have the right to information that will facilitate appropriate decision-making."

This 2011 call for pro-life researchers to adopt standard methods for systematic data analysis suggests to me that the movement is way behind the curve. I note that the author of the article I cite has recently been criticized for study methodology in her work on mental health impacts of abortion (to which she has published corrections), which appears to be an ongoing debate.

Here are a few examples of empirical claims I’ve heard from people in the pro-life movement, and my evaluation of those statements with available data.

“The U.S. has the greatest number (or rate) of abortions worldwide.” That may have been true once, but populations have shifted globally and in the U.S., rates have been dropping faster than other places. In a paper by Sedgh et al. (2012), there were 1.4 million abortions reported in “Northern America,” and 27.3 million in Asia (I’d thank the one child policy in China for that, plus a large population) and 6.4 million in Africa. The paper provides estimates that in “Northern America”, 19% of pregnancies end in abortion, while the statistics are 22% for Asia, 25% in Latin America, and 30% for Europe (driven by Eastern Europe).

“Unborn babies feel pain beginning from the seventh week of gestation.” I came across two recent review articles on the topic. The first, already cited, by two Italian researchers, concludes that, “Most studies disclose the possibility of fetal pain in the third trimester of gestation. This evidence becomes weaker before this date, though we cannot exclude its increasing presence since the beginning of the second half of the gestation.” Another review article, from 2005, concludes, “*Evidence regarding the capacity for fetal pain is limited but indicates that fetal perception of pain is unlikely before the third trimester. *”

“There are serious complications of induced abortion.” There’s a book cited in the pro-life movement as a scientific proof that abortion harms women. It’s called Aborted Women, Silent No More by David C. Reardon. The book is based largely on women who received their abortions from 1974-1978 and who underwent a religious conversion within the following 10 years and joined WEBA, a Christian anti-abortion group. The survey reported a post-surgical hemorrhage rate of 15% - in 2010 surveillance data I’ve reviewed from Michigan Dept of Community Health, the rate was under 0.01 percent. That suggests to me that the WEBA members were either “worst case” in their post-abortion outcomes or that abortion practices have become safer over time. In any case, the Michigan data also strongly suggest that the rate of immediate and long-term complication of induced abortion is generally lower than the rate of complication from vaginal live birth, the adverse effects of which include incontinence, infection, and post-partum depression. In general, abortion is no more dangerous that other surgical procedures.

“Eliminating partial-birth abortion will save many lives.” In fact, according to the statistics report on abortion surveillance by the National Center for Health Statistics, every year between 1999 and 2008, 95% of abortions took place at gestational age of 17 weeks or less. 90% took place at gestational age 13 weeks or less. As of 2002, >50% took place below gestational age 8 weeks.

I’m writing this because I believe that if the pro-life movement ever wants to pass muster constitutionally, it must go much farther in showing that the unborn merit the protection of the state against the wishes of a mother wishing to abort her pregnancy. This requires top-notch science.

In the mean time, changing culture is a much more fruitful endeavor, in my eyes, one that does not involve the divisiveness of partisan politics. In my eyes, partisan politics prevent us from realizing the Kingdom of God. However, abortion statistics give us clues as to how we might most effectively reduce abortion while building the Kingdom.

First, nationally, it’s clear that abortion is a culturally driven phenomenon. State level abortion statistics vary widely across the country, with abortion ratios per 1000 live births ranging from <100 in Kentucky, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming to >300 in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York (over 700 in New York City, the national hotspot).

Secondly, it’s not at all clear that the legal status of abortion affects its rate. In the paper by Sedgh et al., cited above, globally, regions with the most stringent anti-abortion laws, on average, had higher rates of abortion, generally of the illegal variety. For example, the abortion rate remains high in many Latin American countries, despite having national bans in most places (this motivated the Mexican government to loosen its restrictions on abortion). This suggests that legal change, without cultural change, may not have that great an effect on abortion rates. We already have evidence in the U.S. that people skirt state restrictions by traveling to other states.

Third, abortion rates vary substantially by race/age. Black women’s abortion rates are much higher than white women’s. ~50% of abortions take place among women under 25 years old. The odds of getting an abortion are highest (in order) among ages <15, 15-19, 20-24, and 40 and over. This suggests there are two types of women getting abortions: first, women who are economically vulnerable, largely due to their place in life (and possibly their prospects for stable partners); secondly, women over 40 may be receiving abortion at high rates due to concerns about Downs syndrome or other conditions.

These factors spell out to me an alternative pro-life pathway I hope succeeds: getting involved in the lives of young people at an early age.

Regarding your last sentence - any ideas on how to do that?

Second, there is a baby in there, not a blob of tissue. Even the niece of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. fell for that lie.

Something I have noticed is this: Gradually increasing the instability of the traditional family gradually stimulates a false - lie filled - “need” for more services that generate money. When you have provocateurs lying to the public all the time, from scientists all the way down to the media - sex has been reduced to “just sex,” like going to the bathroom. Go to a movie, watch some TV. Orgasms are good. Relationships - of any kind - are complicated, messy and may involve unpleasant emotions - and they take work. Kids are totally lacking good role models in too many cases. You teach kids that there are limits and that as they get older, they need to be taught to act responsibly.

What you are totally missing is the 24/7 message that sex is good and then the dog moves on. When the girl has his baby, he’s nowhere to be found.

And I suggest you contact the “money is the most important thing” manufacturers of the pill, condoms, IUDs, spermicidal foams and other contraceptive devices and tell them what harm they are doing. We are not talking about treating a medical condition here. Instead of learning and getting hooked on phonics, kids are being taught that getting hooked on serial sexual relationships is normal, average and OK. Go ahead, listen to a rap record. It’s not music but it does send wrong messages.

Life begins at conception. You should teach kids that as well.

princeton.edu/~prolife/articles/embryoquotes2.html

Peace,
Ed

 

[sherimarie]

It doesn’t pay to prove that a 10 week old baby feels pain. Who will do the research on this? If you want to look it up you can see for yourself a little 1st trimester baby reacting to pain. People believe what is convenient to believe.

 

[fnr]

Ed,

Great questions and great observations. I really don’t have all the answers… I’m an analyst, and it’ll take all of us to get the right strategy down. I didn’t have any room in my original post to get into the details of strategy (I had to cut to make it in under 10000 characters).

That being said, all comers, please!

Regarding your last sentence - any ideas on how to do that?

One idea in my neck of the woods, the Detroit metro area, is that one one end, there are a lot of passionate pro-lifers and on the other end, a lot of Baby Boomers beginning the process of retirement. That’s a huge amount of passion (on the “one end”) and talent (on the “other end”) that can be thrown at the issue. Add on a lot of people who are “structurally unemployed” and have to stay local for family reasons, and there are huge resources at hand for “building the Kingdom.”

If you map county-level abortion rates in Michigan, the City of Detroit lights up like a city on fire. Most kids in Detroit are raised in single-parent (mom-run) homes. A huge fraction of fathers are incarcerated and/or unemployable because many business won’t hire ex-cons. If you look at groups concerned with Detroit’s future, like the Skillman Foundation, they talk about the need for mentors for young people. That’s where pro-life passion and organizational competence, Baby Boomer experience (teachers, engineers, carpenters, mechanics, etc.), and everyone’s desire to see Christ’s work done come together.

In my statistical analysis, it seems to me that there are both cultural and economic drivers of decisions to get abortion. In Detroit, the incarceration of young men has meant that the “sex ratio” between resident men and women 15-44 (childbearing age for women) is very skewed. Add onto that ex-felon’s low employability, and you get this long-term cultural problem, of which Harvard sociologist William Julias Wilson has written.

Young women in Detroit want a stable mate, but many young men aren’t “marriage material” due to incarceration or unemployment. If those women do get pregnant, when single, many may choose abortion because of a lack of support (e.g., child care) and income in a single-earner family. The “gold digger” reputation of black women presented in many hip-hop songs (e.g., Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You”) may stem from poor men’s perception that all women care about is money. Women want stability, so build their own family on their own terms when they’re good and ready. Over generations, this has led to a cultural challenge for marriage.

Into this morass, I would suggest that Kingdom-building is best directed. How? Talk to the neighborhood institutions like churches and social service providers and see what help is needed.

I’m not claiming that my thoughts are correct on this, or exclusive in their applicability. This is just me thinking about my own back yard. Your ideas below, Ed, are certainly on the mark.

Second, there is a baby in there, not a blob of tissue.

Yes, and that’s a message that needs to get out before a woman’s unintentionally pregnant!

Something I have noticed is this: Gradually increasing the instability of the traditional family gradually stimulates a false - lie filled - “need” for more services that generate money.

Well, this takes some nuance. Again, I can’t claim all the answers, but the issues of urban poverty and the economics of single parenthood seem to call attention to “services.” France has actually responded with pro-natality policies like direct payments to mothers and government-run nannies. I’m not saying that’s the solution, but “services” are on the agenda! I hope our changing culture helps to make it so that there are neighborhood resources that don’t require government intervention.

When you have provocateurs lying to the public all the time, from scientists all the way down to the media - sex has been reduced to “just sex,” like going to the bathroom.

Again, this points to culture. I think it would be helpful to point out the mental status of people finding last-minute hook-ups when bars close… not “self-actualized” in the least. Kind of pitiful, actually.

Kids are totally lacking good role models in too many cases. You teach kids that there are limits and that as they get older, they need to be taught to act responsibly.

What you are totally missing is the 24/7 message that sex is good and then the dog moves on. When the girl has his baby, he’s nowhere to be found.

I think that message is essential, Ed. I think most adults know that casual sex is unfulfilling, but kids don’t know that yet. Many young women think they have to “put out” to find love, and I’ve heared that from suburban high school teachers. This is exactly the cultural problem I’m talking about!

And I suggest you contact the “money is the most important thing” manufacturers of the pill, condoms, IUDs, spermicidal foams and other contraceptive devices and tell them what harm they are doing.

I think it’s better to quote the statistics (for example) that under “typical use,” 18/100 women using latex condoms over a typical year will become pregnant. Quote the Guttmacher Institute there! That hits people in their guts a lot more than “it’s wrong!”

 

[edwest2]

Thank you for your reply. I grew up in Detroit and stayed there until 2003. The automatic gunfire was getting annoying.

I am a Baby Boomer, but that doesn’t mean much. I watched Detroit slowly crumble. I watched it slowly become what it is today: the only place the poor can afford to live, and that includes the handicapped. And it is absolutely impossible that the Detroit City Council somehow missed the fact that tax revenues were falling year after year after year. Totally impossible. Oh, a few people built some very large and impressive buildings downtown recently and tore down a lot more. When the problem was smaller, it was ignored.

I am incredulous at anyone who thinks that kids who are now third and fourth generation from when Detroit was healthy, do not see the poverty around them and the tons of single mothers around them. They grew up with it, year after year after year. They don’t know or care about the Guttmacher Institute. They learn what they see in their own neighborhoods.

Recently, due to the number of black on black shootings/killings, Mayor Bing called on Church leaders in the community to help. Somehow, he understood what was missing, and I’m sure some of them were able to help. Then the Detroit Newspapers, who use useless words like resources, publish a few articles, and that’s it. The issue is money and commitment. Habitat for Humanity has helped, a group of young people from of U of M have been to the city to rehabilitate or tear down homes.

Recently, the pastor of a large Christian Church was car-jacked and slightly injured in the process. The Mayor is about to get rid of 80% of the Detroit Water Department workers, which, as far as I can tell, was and is the big moneymaker for Detroit. He is also looking for State aid.

You know what? As I drove around to the cities that surround Detroit, I noticed one thing as the years passed - they went down a little but their neighborhoods stayed strong and they are tiny compared to Detroit. Why?

A few years back, one Detroit newspaper interviewed a man who was a former gang leader in Detroit in the late 1950s. He related that they carried chains and a handgun, which was usually not loaded but used to frighten people - that was it. How and why are young punks today getting AK-47s and shooting each other on a fairly regular basis? He was shocked at the extreme violence being carried out.

Young black women generally have no place to go, and I cannot believe for a second that they get pregnant just so they can live in poverty. There are a lot of employed black men who live outside of Detroit. They are available. Sadly, and I say this with sadness, they are not likely to go looking for a mate in the city of Detroit. Metro Detroit is a meaningless construct that really falsely covers up the truth - there is no such thing as Metro Detroit. If you live in the city then that is true. Anything “metro” to that is not the city. And years ago, all the black people that could leave, did.

If you really want to serve God, you need to say this is right and this is wrong and these are the practical consequences when you break these rules. I do not believe any inner city black woman is blind to what she saw growing up, and yes, they may think having a baby is the best person they can love. All the single and divorced moms around them are living without a man, so why not?

In closing, there are Christian groups in Detroit. There are people doing what they can. There are people who have not lost hope. By God’s grace, I try when I can to help the homeless. You can find them by the freeway exits around inner city Detroit. Hope - constant hope - and helping, even a little. That’s what I can do. There are shelters that could use some nonperishable food donations and Church pantries. But where are they? Is someone in the suburbs providing a list to any so that people can donate? Or the Capuchin Soup Kitchen? I recently saw a photo of a member of a religious order who pushes a street cart filled with food through downtown Detroit. He used to operate out of a building down there, but guess what? Mystery of mysteries, some rich people raised the rent on the building. Oh yeah, there are rich people down there and I have no real idea why. Nostalgia? Tax breaks?

And the other things is, as we so-called (fake marketing name) baby boomers age, we are encountering health problems. My boss is able to provide some health coverage that provides some care and prescription drugs coverage. If not for that, I’d have zero dollars to donate.

Hope. Even if you can help only one person - realize, that it’s Jesus standing on that street corner.

Peace,
Ed

 

[fnr]

Ed,

An absolutely wonderful reply!

The thing that gets me is something that’s never discussed in public discourse: sexual behavior. We argue about contraception, but the real issue is sexual behavior. I would posit that it’s changed a lot, likely as a result of multiple factors. First is the obvious industrial-scale production of artificial contraception. Second is the higher productivity in our economy, which both makes women’s work outside the home more profitable and also reduces the number of workers needed for a particular gadget (e.g., employment per vehicle at the Ford Rouge plant over time). That productivity and offshoring of jobs requiring a lot of labor (name removed by moderator)ut have produced a perfect storm for young men, who no longer can get by with a high school diploma and sub-par academic performance. Unemployed young men aren’t good marriage prospects, and incarceration doesn’t help. But the sex continues, men and women, whether or not contraception is used. That we label contraception as health care is a result of our unwillingness to talk about sexual behavior.

But behavior is hard to change. Abstinence-only programs consistently don’t show long-term efficacy. I think it’s because their advocates hope that such classes can reverse the tide of changing sexual mores. They can’t, so the programs don’t work. But that’s how we debate the issue in the political sphere.

How do you think would be best to reach those young people, Ed? You’ve obviously been out in the trenches. Honestly, I’d like your thoughts!

Best,
Chad

 

[edwest2]

Chad,

Thank you for the compliment. Let’s look at the broader picture regarding behavior and health in general. Ten years ago, Time magazine devoted an entire issue to new advances in medicine that would be appearing around now and in the next few years. Guess what? In the next issue, a letter was published from a doctor who was the head of a major, national medical association. He thanked Time for the special issue, but after reading all of the articles, he had one problem with it all: “Not once,” he wrote. “was the word behavior mentioned.” He went on to say that that if people did not change their behavior and even if all these advances came to pass, one half of the country would still be at risk for major medical problems.

Recently, in inner city Detroit, I have seen the following billboards (wording may not be exact): “Get active! If your kids see you do it, they will to.” And “Eat more fruits and vegetables. If your kids see you do it, they will to.”

Sex not talked about? Just turn on the TV and you’ll get Chris Rock talking about dirty, nasty, graphic sex for an hour. Watch a soap opera. Now, they’ve got gay characters making out. And everybody’s cheating on everybody or getting divorced. Watch Desperate Housewives or even Family Guy. That’s where the “public discourse” is occurring for most poor and not poor young people today. Viagra commercials? The message is: You’ve got to be having sex constantly, regardless of age. Or “My husband yelled at me once so I’m thinking of getting a divorce.” Seriously, I heard this from a psychologist.

And do you think for a moment that the makers of any birth control device, pill, foam or condom is not bringing in more money because of all this?

And this did not happen overnight. The groundwork was carefully laid by people who wanted all us of to be living as they were already living - in private. It started in the late 1960s.

Studies show that abstinence only education is not working? I suggest you do not live your life and create solutions based solely on studies. Behavior is the key and making changes in behavior requires somebody, anybody rising above the constant din of have sex, sex and more sex, or artificial contraception is the only way. You can hold seminars, talks and academic meetings with professionals, but the average young person does not know or care about them. They know what they see, but if a neighbor, or local Church leader or someone their own age could tell them: “Hey. You know what? I’m a young dad and my baby needs a father, so we got a group together to help dads stay with the mothers of their babies and be there for them.” Even if the dad cannot afford to stay in the same house and lives with his mom, he can still arrange to care for the young woman or at least be there, and have his baby grow up knowing that he loves him. That would be a step in the right direction, not, “Yo dog. What’s up?” “Yeah, well my girlfriend got fat, ya know? So it’s time to find another one. This dog’s still young. You know what I’m sayin’?” “Hey, I hear that.”

Even if they were not married, it would be a good first step. Even if the young man was not working, he could apply for food stamps and the mother for state aid and local charitable groups could help. Bottom line: that baby needs mom and dad. We need to put our heads together and look outside the box. One example:

spaoa.org/

And I’m sure there are more. Local Churches, regardless of denomination, could help. And with a little help here and a little there, it adds up. Sure, the Catholic Church does not promote unwed motherhood and fatherhood, but if we make the goal the rebuilding of families, even extended families, we approach the goal: love between parents and the child, and maybe even between the parents themselves. Otherwise, we will remain stuck at nowhere, and an endless cycle of despair where that baby grows up, has no real encouragement or guidance from his parents, and the local gang and/or dope dealer becomes his family/role model and incarceration is the next step in his life.

How many young black men were not loved by a father or really cared for by their single mom who had to work or stayed home all day, hanging with her single mom friends and her own single mom? Or worse, the despair drove their single mom to a life with no hope and illegal drugs became her only consolation?

Young people see what’s right in front of them. They watch TV that’s bad for them and see movies that portray the wrong role models. But when they look at their own lives, what do they see? Nothing but despair. The guys on the local street corner who are living the same life. I know some turned to music or played sports or at least tried to get any kind of job or joined the military to get the skills they needed to get a good job. But their other options? Quick, easy money selling dope, which destroys body, mind and souls. I heard a young black dope dealer justify his job in a TV interview where his face was obscured: “You see. I don’t force nobody to buy dope from me. I got people, even white people, buyin’ dope from me. It’s the only way I can bring in some money, ya know? And look at people who buy squares (slang for a pack of cigarettes). Squares is legal and people know you can get cancer from ‘em, so what’s the big deal? If people buy dope and die (overdose), it’s their choice. You know what I’m sayin’? People make up their own mind, ya know?”

That baby needs to know he is loved and he needs a father, even a poor father. Because without that love, without that sense of commitment, that young boy grows up, knows he wants sex, gets various girls pregnant, and becomes a dog, leaving the female to care for his pups.

The baby need both parents. He needs to know he is loved. He needs to know that his dad loves him. And his dad needs to know that taking charity is better than getting involved in illegal work that will put him in jail with his other black brothers.

Communities need to be told, and individuals in those communities need to go door to door if need be, to let young women and young men know that somebody cares, that help is available, that legal options for work are available - that hope is available. Even if it’s joining the military or taking charity - they need to know that somebody cares.

Finally - commitment. That’s the key to bringing families back to life.

Peace,
Ed

 

[tabycat]

Thank you for your reply. I grew up in Detroit and stayed there until 2003. The automatic gunfire was getting annoying.

I am a Baby Boomer, but that doesn’t mean much. I watched Detroit slowly crumble. I watched it slowly become what it is today: the only place the poor can afford to live, and that includes the handicapped. And it is absolutely impossible that the Detroit City Council somehow missed the fact that tax revenues were falling year after year after year. Totally impossible. Oh, a few people built some very large and impressive buildings downtown recently and tore down a lot more. When the problem was smaller, it was ignored.

I am incredulous at anyone who thinks that kids who are now third and fourth generation from when Detroit was healthy, do not see the poverty around them and the tons of single mothers around them. They grew up with it, year after year after year. They don’t know or care about the Guttmacher Institute. They learn what they see in their own neighborhoods.

Recently, due to the number of black on black shootings/killings, Mayor Bing called on Church leaders in the community to help. Somehow, he understood what was missing, and I’m sure some of them were able to help. Then the Detroit Newspapers, who use useless words like resources, publish a few articles, and that’s it. The issue is money and commitment. Habitat for Humanity has helped, a group of young people from of U of M have been to the city to rehabilitate or tear down homes.

Recently, the pastor of a large Christian Church was car-jacked and slightly injured in the process. The Mayor is about to get rid of 80% of the Detroit Water Department workers, which, as far as I can tell, was and is the big moneymaker for Detroit. He is also looking for State aid.

You know what? As I drove around to the cities that surround Detroit, I noticed one thing as the years passed - they went down a little but their neighborhoods stayed strong and they are tiny compared to Detroit. Why?

A few years back, one Detroit newspaper interviewed a man who was a former gang leader in Detroit in the late 1950s. He related that they carried chains and a handgun, which was usually not loaded but used to frighten people - that was it. How and why are young punks today getting AK-47s and shooting each other on a fairly regular basis? He was shocked at the extreme violence being carried out.

Young black women generally have no place to go, and I cannot believe for a second that they get pregnant just so they can live in poverty. There are a lot of employed black men who live outside of Detroit. They are available. Sadly, and I say this with sadness, they are not likely to go looking for a mate in the city of Detroit. Metro Detroit is a meaningless construct that really falsely covers up the truth - there is no such thing as Metro Detroit. If you live in the city then that is true. Anything “metro” to that is not the city. And years ago, all the black people that could leave, did.

If you really want to serve God, you need to say this is right and this is wrong and these are the practical consequences when you break these rules. I do not believe any inner city black woman is blind to what she saw growing up, and yes, they may think having a baby is the best person they can love. All the single and divorced moms around them are living without a man, so why not?

In closing, there are Christian groups in Detroit. There are people doing what they can. There are people who have not lost hope. By God’s grace, I try when I can to help the homeless. You can find them by the freeway exits around inner city Detroit. Hope - constant hope - and helping, even a little. That’s what I can do. There are shelters that could use some nonperishable food donations and Church pantries. But where are they? Is someone in the suburbs providing a list to any so that people can donate? Or the Capuchin Soup Kitchen? I recently saw a photo of a member of a religious order who pushes a street cart filled with food through downtown Detroit. He used to operate out of a building down there, but guess what? Mystery of mysteries, some rich people raised the rent on the building. Oh yeah, there are rich people down there and I have no real idea why. Nostalgia? Tax breaks?

And the other things is, as we so-called (fake marketing name) baby boomers age, we are encountering health problems. My boss is able to provide some health coverage that provides some care and prescription drugs coverage. If not for that, I’d have zero dollars to donate.

Hope. Even if you can help only one person - realize, that it’s Jesus standing on that street corner.

Peace,
Ed

My mom grow up in Detroit in the teens and twenties and from what she said that the city started to go down hill when mostly poor whites would move to Detroit to work in the car plants. They would come in the spring when the plants opened and move back south in the late fall to spend the winter in the south.