If abortion becomes illegal...what is affect on US demographics?

[DesEtoiles]

This is a difficult topic to discuss, but I was listening to Michael Savage (I know - don't ask me why) and he was railing on how awful it was that he, the taxpayer, was burdended by supporting California's "permanent underclass".

I wonder if the fundies realize what is going to happen to the size of the..ahem...so-called permanent underclass if abortion becomes illegal?

Does anyone have any information - demographically, who gets abortions? I'm going to make a guess that it is not rich white Republican women.

Apologies - this is not a very PC topic and I don't mean to offend anyone, but really it is a question - what WOULD happen to the US, demographically, if abortion became illegal? And if the fundies were alerted to this, would they be so gung-ho about pushing their anti-choice agenda?

[Not_Giving_Up]

1. Given the HIPPA rules, I doubt that information will be available n/t

[fertilizeonarbusto]

2. Well

The rich would still get abortions, the educated will get contraception, the rest (the poor and uneducated) will get pregnant. Cheers!

[DesEtoiles]

4. and 18 years later those babies will VOTE

and who will they vote for?

[AllegroRondo]

6. But will their votes count?

[DesEtoiles]

12. In Ohio and Florida, would there be a "baby boom" in 18 years?

Eventually these states would have to turn blue. We will get better at stopping vote fraud, and when those baby-boom votes are counted, these states would go blue.

[tk2kewl]

8. unfortunately most of them probably wont vote

[Warren DeMontague]

11. If they're smart, they'll vote for the people who support allowing them

self-determination and control of their OWN minds and bodies.

[DesEtoiles]

17. regardless of facts, think of the propaganda value...

These knee-jerk redneck haters - they will have a seizure if someone even hints that restrictions on abortions will lead to a demographic shift that they consider "unfavorable".

I would love to get that message out loud and clear for sheer propaganda value alone.

[zann725]

29. 18 years later they'll fill the "Draft" to fight never-ending Wars

n/t

[clydefrand]

13. And those who can't afford to raise the kids will do either of

two things:

They will depend upon the Great Uncle Sam to support them

OR

They will attempt to get abortions the best they can and many of the poor women/girls will die as they have done in the past when abortions were botched. That is one way to eliminate the "underclass". So Savage won't have to support them any more.

The rich will ALWAYS be able to get abortions. They always have and have kept them silent. Just ask Bush.

[tk2kewl]

3. they just plan on NOT supporting the permanent underclass

let there be more of them. cheaper labor.

don't give them any subsidies. that way they'll fight even harder to compete with each other and dry the cost of labor even lower.

[spooky3]

5. I wish I had the cite, but don't: There is an academic study that

demonstrated a link between the legality and accessibility of birth control and abortion services, and a lowered crime rate over the past two decades. I don't want to oversimplify the study, but I think that the authors proposed that children who are wanted and cared for, and parents who are less stressed, helped to produce this positive outcome.

[gaia_gardener]

22. That seems like a no-brainer to me

I also think that there is a link between being able to provide the nutrition needs and crime. If kids are chronically hungry, they don't do as well in school (because their brain development is damaged). Kids that don't do that well in school have higher drop out rates. Drop-outs have higher rates of crime.

Which does not mean that I think all chronically hungry kids will drop out of HS or that all HS drop outs will turn to crime.

[idiosyncratic]

7. More previously-pregnant women will die from illegal abortions

performed in filthy back rooms.

Women will continue to try to get abortions.

They just won't be "safe, legal, and rare" anymore.

[mcscajun]

9. I doubt it would have a massive impact on demographics

Abortion has always cut across race/class lines...the difference being when it was illegal...many poorer women died or were maimed, becoming permanently infertile. Rich women could pay for better care from doctors willing to break the law, med students in need of cash; or, they could travel to countries where abortion was legal.

Yes, there might be a slight uptick in the births of unplanned/unwanted children, but I don't think this is going to cause any kind of demographic shift.

[Warren DeMontague]

10. None, because once abortion and birth control are criminalized

people will cease their wanton, lustful, wicked fornication, and God will smile upon a chaste and humble land of plenty again.

[beyurslf]

14. But you're forgetting to subtract all the poor women who will

be killed by their back alley abortions.

[cali]

15. The odds of abortion becoming illegal

are very slim. Should Roe be overturned the regulation of abortion would revert back to the states. Some states would outlaw it, others wouldn't, but states like California, MA, OR,WA, VT, CT, RI, NJ, DE, MD and several others would likely retain full abortion rights. Others would likely opt to make it available only thru the first trimester, still others would make it illegal with exceptions for rape, incest and the health and life of the mother.
Guaranteeing constitutional rights to the fetus will almost certainly not happen. It takes 3/4 of the states to ratify a constitutional amendment.

[Megahurtz]

16. I doubt, and I hope

that abortion will NOT become illegal. If it does you can bet that people will find ways to do it anyway.

I don't have the answer to your main question, maybe some one else does.

But what angers me is that the Repukes are responsible for creating the "permanent underclass" :grr:

Does Michael Savage think that his precious taxes won't be paying for all those unwanted babies? What a fucking idiot. :dunce:

I guess that depending on how old he is, by the time any anti-abortion laws would be passed his selfish ass wouldn't be around anymore to pay any taxes anyway.

Another selfish, selfish, selfish Repuke.

Makes me puke. :puke:

[SoCalDem]

18. As long as there have been "sharp sticks" , there have been abortions.

Rich girls will still have safe abortionsappendectomies.. Poor women will get infections and may die.. Just like before:(

[klyon]

19. Repugs would lose a wedge issue that they count on

to turn the base out if it were made illegal.

KL

[spreadingpeace]

20. abortions would still happen

This is an interesting question, but I think the demographic effect would be minimal because if a woman wants an abortion she is going to find a way to make it happen regardless of the law.

All that an anti-abortion bill would accomplish is pushing abortion underground where you get quack doctors using coat hangers like the old days.

There is a great button with the coat-hanger image crossed out. Check it out along with other great pro-choice messages at:

http://www.peaceproject.com/buttons/pcbuttons.htm

AND

http://www.peaceproject.com/stickers/pcstickers.htm

[llpoperations]

21. Abortions would still happen?

To a certain extent, abortions would still happen, but you're forgetting that more than 1,000,000 legal abortions are performed every year. No way they would all be carried out in a criminalized environment.

[orpupilofnature57]

23. No ,but would lead to horrendous conditions, for under privileged!

[yardwork]

25. Where did you get that one million abortions number?

I don't think that the number is anywhere near that high. Many counties in the United States currently offer zero facilities for abortions. It's relatively difficult to get an abortion unless one is wealthy now.

Edit: I googled and found a seemingly objective site that confirms the one million number. Sorry to question it!

Interestingly, the United States has one of the highest rates of abortion per women in the industrialized world. Our rate (something like 21 abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age) is much higher than other European countries where abortion is also legal but contraception is more readily available due to nationalized healthcare.

Our rate of abortion is lower than those in eastern Europe and other countries where contraception is difficult to get.

The rates of abortion in the industrialized world has been steadily falling for the past two decades. Experts feel that availability of contraceptives is the reason.

The way to reduce abortion seems to be to increase the availability of reliable contraception, not criminalize abortion!

Link to pdf file here http://www.agi-usa.org/presentations/abort_slides.pdf

[newyawker99]

28. Hi spreadingpeace!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[The Flaming Red Head]

24. It could happen here, too

http://www.ceausescu.com/ceausescu_texts/overplanned_parenthood.htm

[yardwork]

26. Actually, most of the women getting abortions ARE rich and white!

Believe it or not. A startlingly high number are women who are happily married. They don't want another baby, or they have a fetus with a birth defect and they make the decision to abort. Most abortions happen very early in pregnancy, and most of them are among the affluent.

[orpupilofnature57]

27. Thats the truth,most 70's legalization cries,made by empowered woman!

[Cheswick2.0]

30. women will figure out how to perform safe illegal abortions at home

and they will network to provide the information to other women.