ChristianPost: Hillary Clinton Is the Best Choice for Voters Against Abortion

[ehrnst]

Abortions rose steadily during the tenure of the first "pro-life" Republican President, Ronald Reagan. They reached their highest level under President H. W. Bush. Abortions then dropped dramatically under President Clinton, falling to 60% of the high under his pro-life Republican predecessor. That downward trend stalled during most of President W. Bush's tenure, and remained basically flat until the final two years of his term when Democrats retook Congress. And then abortions plunged again under Obama, falling to their lowest point in 40 years.
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It's no coincidence that abortions go up when Republicans are in charge and down when Democrats are. The two biggest indicators a woman will have an abortion are that she is poor (75% of women who have abortions make less than $23,000 and half make less than $11,000), and had an unintended pregnancy (half of U.S. pregnancies are unintended, and 43% end in abortion).

Want to guess which political party is more effective at reducing poverty and unwanted pregnancies? I'll give you a hint. It's not the "pro-life" Party that in this last Congressional session alone fought to cut medical care for poor mothers and children, food programs for kids, and contraception coverage and access for women.

One final point. Let's assume the impossible happened and Roe is overturned — leaving each state to decide if they'll allow abortions. Only about 10% of abortions take place in states with legislatures that have seriously tried to limit abortion. So if abortion was outlawed in all those states, and no woman crossed state lines to get one, the most overturning Roe would achieve is a 10% reduction in abortions. Compare that to nearly 40 years of data showing that we would save more than three times as many unborn children by cutting the number of poor women in half. Increase contraception access, family leave, and improve pre- and post- natal healthcare, and we'd cut abortions by 50% or more.
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Seven out of 10 women who have an abortion already have kids. They are desperate, alone, scared, probably ashamed, and without options. Pro-life slogans won't change that reality. Being duped yet again into voting Republican will only create more women like that. What those women — and their unborn children — need are Christians with the courage and faith not to repeat the political folly of the last forty years.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/hillary-clinton-is-the-best-choice-for-voters-against-abortion-170258/#rZk73SPuTeD0RzAp.99

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. These are FACTS: rock solid FACTS.

The problem is that the Republicans don't really care about facts.

They're into controlling and shaming women. They talk about protecting women, but what they really mean is that they want to control women's sexuality.

So much for pro-life.

K&R

[hamsterjill]

7. Well said, Peggy!

And absolutely spot on!

Republicans do not care about fetuses. They care about keeping women subservient.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. Thank you so much, my dear hamsterjill!

I appreciate your comments.

[Nay]

35. Yep. It's never been about the facts. It's the control of women's lives. nt

[tonyt53]

2. I have used these facts for years when speaking to a dead-set pro-lifer.

During the Clinton years, people had jobs. When a person feels like they are "making it" on their own, they have hope. Hope has a way of allowing a person to make a better decision.

[Hortensis]

3. Don't know CP's circulation, but it's a valuable endorsement.

Reminds me of a party last year where I listened to a conservative Christian and a liberal Christian argue about which of them was a truer Christian. Neither seemed to persuade the other, , but if history is at all accurate Jesus was undoubtedly somewhere in the liberal to moderate conservative range.

[radical noodle]

4. This is amazing

You seldom find Christians these days who listen to facts. I've posted it on Facebook. Thanks!

[dbackjon]

11. Posted to Facebook as well.

[AllyCat]

16. Me too.

[Stonepounder]

19. Me too!

Great endorsement. Thank you SO much for finding this.

[Hekate]

20. Christians who like to "pray on street corners" are not the only Christians. They're just noisy...

... and as Jesus pointed out in Matthew, hypocritical.

When I used to volunteer on one of the committees of the local Planned Parenthood, one of the members was an 80-ish retired Episcopal bishop, who had been pro-choice before Roe.

For more information, you can check out Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice at http://rcrc.org/, which is multi-faith; and Religious Tolerance.org at http://www.religioustolerance.org/abo_hist1.htm

[madaboutharry]

5. I have come to the conclusion

that so much of the pro-life movement really isn't about abortion. It's about sex. It's about a misogynistic culture that sees the empowerment of women over their bodies, their sexuality, and their independence as a threat.

[VWolf]

9. I came to that conclusion a loooong time ago

Most "pro-lifers" are also pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-letting-poor-children-starve, you name it.

So if they're not really "pro-life", what else can be their motivation, other than to subjugate women?

[hibbing]

25. Don't forget hating gays n/t

[Beartracks]

6. Jives w/ a proper Christian focus on Social Justice. N/t

[calimary]

8. I'm frankly surprised that's a priority in this case.

Ordinarily, from what I've seen within this particular political subset, none of these reasons ever enter into the conversation.

[LAS14]

24. It's distressing how the angry right has hi-jacked...

... the image of Christianity in this country. Check out Sojourners for a look at real evangelical Christianity.

[calimary]

27. Yes! I greatly appreciate the Sojourners.

Jim Wallis of Sojourners, in particular. He's an inspiration. And he sure seems to be in touch with the true Message of Christ - at least what I learned about it in Catholic school.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Wallis

[LAS14]

33. See post #32 in this thread. nt

[Blue Idaho]

10. "If you want to live like a Republican"

"Vote for a Democrat."

[bucolic_frolic]

12. I have a Fundamentalist distant relative

who was horrified when I suggested that the Republican Party
was just using her movement, that they were being played for votes
and never delivered on any of their promises

I was not believed at all, haven't heard from them since

[Missn-Hitch]

13. Wow. I had heard the rate was at it's lowest in a long time but

wow! Thanks for the post.

[TXCritter]

14. Wow. What a truly Christian editorial.

This is the kind of Christianity I was taught about but rarely see.

[calimary]

28. Welcome to DU, TXCritter!

Indeed. This is much more along the lines of what I learned about Christ in Catholic school.

[ananda]

17. Exactly.

People don't realize how much the abortion rate
is reduced when all women can get affordable
reproductive healthcare.

[Nitram]

21. And when thre are jobs that pay enough to support a family.

[Sunny05]

18. K&R. My word, I am so glad you posted this. / nt

[workinclasszero]

22. Abortions go up when Republicans are in charge and down when Democrats are

Needs to be repeated incessantly.

[LAS14]

23. Makes all the sense in the world. nt

[recovering_democrat]

26. logical and honest

thanks for this posting and the comments. It is often avoided by pro-choice people that it isn't worth commenting on this subject because the christian crazies just overreact no matter what.

Always helps to evaluate the honest truth. THANK YOU!

[calimary]

29. Welcome to DU, recovering_democrat!

I like to up the ante on the whole so-called "pro-life" issue.

Seems to me, you're NOT "pro-life" if...

-- You want tax cuts and MORE tax cuts. Because you don't want to have to pay for social programs that support life AFTER birth (like aid to low-income families and single-heads-of-households, health care - especially government-funded children's health care programs, Head Start, school lunch and sometimes breakfast programs, and other tax-funded support systems).
-- You advocate cutting funding to (or doing away with) Planned Parenthood (that provide health services to women who can't afford it otherwise. Only 3% of Planned Parenthood's services involve abortions. A LOT more of its services involve pre-natal care).
-- You're against the Affordable Care Act (which allows the poorest among us to access health care, maybe for the first time in years OR even the first time EVER. Life-expectancy IMPROVES when people have access to decent health care!
-- You're against spending ANY money spent to help the poor - because you regard them as "lazy moochers" whose poverty is somehow "their own fault."
-- You don't believe in climate change (Hell, THAT is the "mother" we should ALL be obsessing about taking good care of: Mother Earth).
-- You support capital punishment.
-- You support policies of military aggression and any excuse to go to war.
-- You'd rather fund the military than social services.
-- You demand full, unregulated, even reckless access to guns - no matter what kind or how many or whether your psychological profile indicates you shouldn't have any.

[Mc Mike]

37. No pre-natal care, no medical care, no social safety net to feed clothe shelter the kid and mom.

Last edited Fri Oct 7, 2016, 10:19 AM - Edit history (1)

It's "have the child harlot, then watch the little welfare fraud starve".

This C Post op ed is a refreshing step in the right direction, for "pro-life" christians.



There are a lot of good religious movements out there, they just need to be co-ordinated more.

Faithful America, Interfaith Power and Light, Mikey Weinstein and Speed Carroll's Military Religious Freedom Foundation, Jewish Voices for Peace, Sister Kane's Nunjustice, Sister Simone and Sister Pat Farrell's Nuns on the Bus Network Lobby, it's all one fight.

The zillion dollar right wing fake "christian" political theocracy movement is definitely Goliath, here.

[TlalocW]

30. All very rational and well-said

But anti-choice people are not rational. They don't want a reduction in abortion rates. They don't want it rare. They want it gone. But they don't want it gone by making sure women are healthy, financially well-off, and have access to birth control of any kind because of the aforementioned need to control women but also because they want it gone on their terms, which is religious - they don't just want abortion gone but gone because of a religious revival in America. I've talked with some of the most uber-anti-choice people out there and had them understanding and agreeing that abortion rates could be effectively nil if we gave women good healthcare, good sex education, access to birth control, etc., but they would have none of it because their version of God wasn't involved.

TlalocW

[AllyCat]

31. This quote:

"Elections matter, but there is something deeper at stake here. When the woman was caught in adultery, Jesus didn't buy a "go and sin no more" bumper sticker. He put himself between the woman and the righteous and angry crowd.

Seven out of 10 women who have an abortion already have kids. They are desperate, alone, scared, probably ashamed, and without options. Pro-life slogans won't change that reality. Being duped yet again into voting Republican will only create more women like that. What those women — and their unborn children — need are Christians with the courage and faith not to repeat the political folly of the last forty years."

[LAS14]

32. Why the use of the term "Christian evangelical" is a hi-jacking.

https://sojo.net/articles/evangelicals-you-keep-using-word

[saidsimplesimon]

34. I regret the need to respond/

Your comments are offensive and divisive. I disagee with anyone who tries to divide US.

Seven out of ten women find these comments beyond the pale.

[cannabis_flower]

36. I have a friend who had an abortion

She already had a 4 year old, she was unmarried and felt she couldn't depend on the father (who was also the father of the 4 year old). She also felt like she couldn't have the baby and give him up for adoption because she didn't want her 4 year old to think she might give him away.