Subject: Reversing the Gender Gap, Background Polls Part II
Visit us online:
http://www.AfterAbortion.Info
Ad campaign and free education/outreach materials at
http://www.UnChoice.info
Reversing the Gender Gap
The Essential Guide for Pro-Life Candidates
Editor's Note: Over the next several weeks, we will be publishing our guide
for pro-life candidates, Reversing the Gender Gap, in installments.
Please share this material with any pro-life candidates you know who are running
for office, or who are already in office. You can encourage them
to sign up for our e-newsletter so they can receive these installments
themselves by clicking here.
If you missed the previous installment of "Reversing the Gender Gap," click here.
Background Polls &
Psychology, Part II
Coerced Abortions: A Neglected Tragedy
How many political candidates would be willing to publicly defend forced abortions? None -yet in a survey of American women who underwent abortions, 64 reported that they were pressured to abort by others.1 Many abortions are primarily the result of pressure, emotional blackmail, coercion, threats, or violence from boyfriends, husbands, parents, employers, doctors, counselors or other people with influence over women's lives.2
Making abortion easily available has also made it easy for others to pressure or even force women and girls into unwanted abortions. If given real support, options, and resources to have their children, the vast majority of women having abortions would continue the pregnancy. Instead of receiving support, however, many find that they are pushed, coerced, lied to, or threatened until they undergo an abortion. In some cases, women have been assaulted and even murdered by their partners for refusing to have abortions-homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women.3
Disinformation and
Professional Negligence Also Act Coercively
Inadequate, inaccurate or deceptive counseling-or no counseling at all-also can act as a form of coercion. The previously mentioned published study of American women who underwent abortions found that even when women are uncertain or feel rushed, they were dismissed, given inadequate help and information, or none at all.
-
54 percent described themselves as uncertain about having the abortion
-
52 percent said they needed more time to make a decision. Yet,
-
79 percent said they were not counseled on alternatives to abortion,
-
84 percent said they did not receive adequate counseling before abortion, and
-
67 percent said they received no counseling.1
Pro-life candidates-and all pro-lifers-must share this information and focus public attention on this problem.
Coerced abortion exposes abortion as the "unchoice" and dispels the myth that every woman is freely choosing abortion according to her own conscience and maternal desires. In fact, at least 70 percent of aborting women say that abortion violated their moral beliefs and maternal desires.4
Focusing on coerced abortion also exposes the injustices many women face and the need for accurate information, viable options and real support that would allow a woman to continue a pregnancy that may not be "wanted" by those around her. As pro-choice feminist Germaine Greer has pointed out, when a pregnancy is unwanted, "it will be [the woman's] duty to undergo an invasive procedure and an emotional trauma and so sort the situation out. ... Her autonomy is the least important consideration. In both cases she is confronted with other people who know better than she what she ought to do."5
Americans Are
Primed to Recognize the Problem of Coerced Abortion
Even though coerced
abortions are not yet a major public issue, our Elliot Institute poll has shown
that the public is already aware of this problem. It may not be an issue at the
top of their minds, but when asked how often women feel "pressured by other
people or circumstances to undergo unwanted abortions," only 20 percent said
this was rare, while 46 percent said it was common or very common. Figure 3
shows the breakdown by ideological association.6
Figure 3
This data shows that the general public is inclined to believe and share your concerns regarding unwanted and coerced abortions if the problem is called to their attention.
Remember, also, that the CAW survey found that women are far more concerned about preventing domestic violence than they are about protecting unrestricted access to abortion.7 As will be discussed later, coerced abortions are a form of abuse and domestic violence. When you link these injustices together, Americans will support your proposals to protect the rights of women and to stop coerced or unwanted abortions.
Protecting Authentic Rights of Women Is Voters' Top Priority
In the Elliot Institute
poll, a nationally representative sample was asked, "Which are more important,
political efforts to ban abortion or service programs that present women with
alternatives and support those who suffer emotional problems after abortion?"
Overall, 76 percent believed helping women was more important or equally
important than was banning abortion. The breakdown by ideological self-identification
is shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4
In addition, when asked if they would be "more or less likely to vote for a candidate who calls for government support for grief counseling programs to assist women who experience emotional problems after an abortion," 52 percent said they would be more likely to vote for such a candidate (see Figure 5). This position was especially attractive to "pro-choice" women, of whom 63 percent stated they would be more likely to vote for such a candidate compared to only 46 percent of "pro-choice" men.
Figure 5
In this and other areas, our polling indicates that women are generally more
responsive to this position than are men. This probably reflects that
women, either through their own experience or through their observations of
abortion's impact on friends or relatives, are more likely to be aware of and concerned about
negative reactions to abortion.
In addition, when asked how important it is to conduct research on women's emotional reactions to abortion, 74 to 81 percent stated it should be a medium to high priority. This finding again reflected broad support for government involvement in ways that would protect the rights of women. It also shows that women want to know about the true risks of abortion to them and their loved ones.
Further, a survey of women seeking medical services found that, when it comes to elective medical procedures, 95 percent of respondents wanted to be informed of all the risks of the procedure and 69 percent wanted to be informed of all possible alternative treatments, not just those preferred by their doctor. Further, when asked about elective gynecological or obstetric procedures such as abortion or sterilization, the results indicated that, on average, women wanted to be given more information than they did with other elective procedures.8
Conclusions
The Desire for Pro-Woman / Pro-Life Leadership
What do all the polls
and focus groups and the insights of post-abortion counseling experts9
reveal?
-
Women don't like abortion.
-
Many abortions are not freely chosen, but instead are the result of coercion, which can include intense pressure, disinformation, or even force.
-
Most Americans believe abortion frequently results in moderate to severe psychological problems.
-
They are not concerned about packing the Supreme Court with pro-abortion justices.
-
They are concerned about women who are pressured, coerced or forced to undergo unwanted abortions.
-
They are concerned about promoting post-abortion healing and better alternatives to abortion.
-
They, like most people in the middle majority, would be glad to see abortion rates decline as long as this goal is achieved in ways that would not harm, but would actually advance, the welfare and rights of women.
Our data suggests that
most women who have had abortions aren't really bothered by the idea of ending
abortion. Most would agree that in a perfect world abortion would not exist.
What most offends them is that anti-abortionists appear to be insensitive to the obstacles women face. What they really want is for women to receive real
support, just solutions and viable options before, during, and after pregnancy,
and for this concern to be extended to those who have given birth or had a
miscarriage or abortion.
Women who have had abortions and all compassionate Americans want their political leaders to address these injustices and concerns. They would prefer to support a president, senator, or representative who wants to:
(a) protect the right
of women not to be pressured, coerced or even violently forced into unwanted and dangerous abortions,
(b) inform Americans about pregnancy- and abortion-related injustices, including
widespread coercion and negative physical and psychological risks,
(c)
ensure that women be given full information
in an atmosphere that would allow them to fully consider this information,
(d) ensure that women receive authentic solutions and support that would allow them to continue the pregnancy,
even when it is unwanted by those around them, and
(d) promote healing for victims of coercion,
discrimination or violence, including those already
suffering from post-abortion problems.
Feminists for Life has
captured the sentiments reflected in these polls in their slogan, "Women
Deserve Bettertm." This slogan reflects what most women truly
believe. Women deserve full disclosure and support from credentialed
professionals, experts and authorities in various societal sectors. Women
deserve full support from their partners, family, and community but are
instead being coerced into abortion-the "easy way out" for everyone but the
woman and her unborn child. New evidence makes it increasingly clear that
abortion was never about "choice." That's why many are calling it the unchoice. Women really do deserve better.
Citations
1. VM Rue et. al., "Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women," Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16, 2004.
2. For anecdotal evidence and information, see the web site www.unchoice.info, and especially the Forced Abortion in America special reported posted at www.unchoice.info/Coerced.htm.
3. I.L. Horton and D. Cheng, "Enhanced Surveillance for Pregnancy-Associated Mortality-Maryland, 1993-1998," JAMA 285(11): 1455-1459 (2001); see also J. Mcfarlane et. al., "Abuse During Pregnancy and Femicide: Urgent Implications for Women's Health," Obstetrics & Gynecology 100: 27-36 (2002).
4. 2. Los Angeles Times Poll, March 19, 1989.
5. Germaine Greer, The Whole Woman (New York: Doubleday, 1999) 86, 90, quoted in Melinda Tankard-Reist, Giving Sorrow Words (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2007).
6. The Elliot Institute National Opinion Survey of 600 Adults Regarding Attitudes Toward a Pro-Woman / Pro-Life Agenda. Conducted December 12, 2002 by Rasmussen Public Opinion Research, Ocean Grove, New Jersey.
7. "Is Your Mother's Feminism Dead? New Agenda for Women Revealed in Landmark Two-Year Study," press release from the Center for the Advancement of Women (www.advancewomen .org), June 24, 2003; and Steve Ertelt, "Pro-Abortion Poll Shows Majority of Women Are Pro-Life," LifeNews.com, June 25, 2003.
8. PK Coleman, DC Reardon, MB Lee, "Women's preferences for information and complication seriousness ratings related to elective medical procedures," Journal of Medical Ethics, 32:435-438 (2006).
9. T. Burke, D. Reardon, Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002).
Hard copies of Reversing the Gender Gap are available from the Elliot Institute for $5.00 each (bulk pricing is available). Find out more about other Elliot Institute books and resources – including free downloadable materials – at www.unchoice.info/resources.htm. To place an order, call 1-888-412-2676.
DONATIONS
to support the Elliot Institute's post-abortion
research, education and outreach can be made here
*****************************************************************************
>>>> Please Forward to Your Friends and Associates <<<<
But if you do forward it, you should remove the unsubscribe link at the bottom or they may unsubscribe YOU by mistake.
*****************************************************************************