SUPPORTING FAMILIES
Let’s support mothers. Let’s support babies. And let’s do what we sensibly can to make abortion and pregnancy termination rare and respectful.
Few issues polarize us like abortion. I get it. It’s a very difficult thing to talk about with very personal experiences on each side. But here’s what’s crazy: we all want the same
thing. We want to make abortions rare and unnecessary. We want families to be in charge of their own choices. We want humanity to be treated with respect. We want to love the life.
And with decades of research on how to accomplish those goals there’s no excuse for continuing to support policies that counter them.
Planned Parenthood: There should be no argument. Planned Parenthood reduces abortions. More than any other organization, political or otherwise. That may seem counter-intuitive, because as we all know by now, a (small) part of their services include pregnancy termination. But 97% of their services include stopping unexpected pregnancies from ever happening. They provide birth control to women who would otherwise have none. That reduces abortions. They provide health examinations to future mothers whose health concerns would threaten their pregnancies. That reduces abortions. They provide counseling and support for mothers overwhelmed by their unexpected pregnancy. That reduces abortions. In fact, thanks to the efforts of Planned Parenthood, teenage pregnancy is at historically low rates.
And being open and honest with each other about the benefits of these sorts of services are integral to reducing abortion in America. Because reducing abortion starts with reducing unplanned pregnancy. And education and healthcare are proven to do that. Abstinence pledges don’t. In fact, teenagers who take abstinence pledges are not less likely to have sex, and when they do they are more likely to not use birth control. But either way, the result is more unplanned pregnancy.
Let’s all get on the same page to achieve the goals we really care about as a community. Because we all want the same things. Let’s protect families' decisions and keep mothers safe.
Let’s do something.