Few women would wait that long before making reproductive decision: "Of the 1.6 million abortions performed in the U.S. each year, 91 percent are performed during the first trimester (12 or fewer weeks' gestation); 9 percent are performed in the second trimester (24 or fewer weeks' gestation); and only about 100 are performed in the third trimester (more than 24 weeks' gestation), approximately .01 percent of all abortions performed" (Fast Facts: U.S. Abortion Statistics, 17 June 2003, <http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,880,00.html>). Those who have abortion beyond the first trimester do so have unusually difficult social or financial problems or discover grave problems (of their own health, fatal fetal deformity, etc.) after the first trimester.
On 3/9/07, Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
> Dennis Claxton wrote:
> > I think the point is there are good and bad ways of expressing a
> > pro-abortion position. Abortion "for the hell of it" is not going to
> > win friends and influence people.
>
> Think of the public as Mr. Woodhouse. The first step in persuading him
> to a change is persuading him that it is going to happen. I can
> persuade a supporter of the war in Iraq to oppose that war. I would not
> dream of persuading an enemy of abortion to approve it; rather
> circumstances must persuade him that there is nothing to argue about and
> that abortion is here. Abortion defenders must simply make more of
> anuisance of themselves than abortion opponents do.
I don't think that's possible.
1. The most radical anti-abortionists have resorted to terrorism, from death threats to actually bombing clinics and shooting doctors and others. Terrorism has succeeded in making abortion providers scarcer.*
2. Women are much more politically divided on abortion than Blacks are, say, on criminal justice. A great deal of consensus found among Blacks about police brutality, racial profiling, sentencing disparity, etc. still do not produce enough outrage in the communities to give rise to a movement comparable to the Civil Rights movement. Lack of consensus among women -- divided along many lines, most importantly between those for whom even small restrictions mean a great deal of hardship and those for whom such restrictions are minor hurdles they can easily overcome -- makes it unlikely for a strong women's movement focused on defense of the right and access to abortion to emerge, the kind of movement that can go beyond fighting defensive battles only.
3. Really, at this point we need more than a pro-choice movement. A pro-choice movement that's focused on only or mainly on abortion is bound to lose. And it largely has, as far as access is concerned. I think that it is possible to change the minds of working-class women about abortion only if abortion is part of a larger health care and economic agenda, for which they have to and want to struggle despite their feelings about abortion.
* <http://www.abortionaccess.org/viewpages.php?id=176> The Shortage of Abortion Providers
* 87% of all U.S. counties and 97% of all rural U.S. counties have no abortion provider.1 * Since 1982, the number of abortion providers has decreased by 37%.1 * 58% of all OB/GYN doctors who provide abortions are 50 years of age or older. This means the number of providers will continue to decline as current providers reach retirement age, unless younger clinicians learn to perform abortions.2 * In 1983, 42% of all OB/GYN doctors performed abortions. In 1995, only 33% did. The overwhelming majority of abortions are performed by a small group of doctors: Only 2% of U.S. OB/GYN doctors perform more than 25 abortions per month.3 * 72% of OB/GYN residency programs do not train all residents in abortion procedures.4 * From 1982 to 2000, the number of hospitals providing abortions has decreased by 57%.1 * Only 15% of chief residents in family medicine residency programs have clinical experience providing first trimester abortions.3 * Abortion is a reproductive health care service that allows medical providers to refuse to participate in the care of a patient5 * There have been 15,087 reported instances of violence and/or harassment against abortion providers since 1977, including 7 murders and 17 attempted murders (actual instances are most likely much higher.)5 In 2000, more than half of all providers experienced anti-choice harassment.6 -- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>