Dealing with life By Harry Abrams

In dealing with life as it relates to abortions, many young ladies make the choice as a last resort. The question was asked in a representative sample of Americans: Do you think abortions should be legal under any circumstances, legal only under some circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?” Supporting data by Source Book of Criminal Justice Statistics 2009: Table 2.101 (cited in Henslin, 2011) demonstrated that 19 percent of American males reported that abortions should always be legal, while 24 percent of women reported that it should always be legal. As we look at the report for those who think abortions should be legal under certain circumstances, the percentage rose drastically. Fifty nine percent of American males reported that abortions should be legal under some circumstance, while forty eight percent of females reported that abortions should be legal under certain circumstances. Nineteen percent of the male population reported that abortions should never be legal and twenty six percent of the female population reported that abortions should never be legal. These are the statistical facts as it relates to gender.

When researchers examined the different races in America the conclusion were that twenty three percent of whites reported that abortions should always be legal. Fifty four percent of whites reported that reported that abortions should be legal under certain circumstances. Twenty one percent of whites reported that abortions should never be legal. Among non-whites, eighteen percent reported that abortions should always be legal. Fifty percent of non-whites reported that abortions should be legal under some circumstance and twenty eight percent of non-whites reported that abortions should never be legal. In the African American population sixteen percent reported that abortions should always be legal. Fifty percent of the African American population reported that abortions should be legal under some circumstances and thirty one percent of the African American population reported that abortions should never be legal.

While many Americans think that abortions are last resort decisions, this is not the case. In many cases abortions are used as a means of birth control. An abortion clinic in California was studied and the researcher found that many women had not used contraceptives. When asked why, they reported that contraceptive interfered with intimacy. Others said that contraceptives caused side effects. Some women did not use them because their boyfriends did not want them to use them. In short, some women take chance and when they get pregnant they have abortions. Is it a crime or should it be considered a crime to have an abortion?

Before 1973 abortions in America was a crime, and those who performed it were put in prison. After the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision by the Supreme Court, abortion was no longer a crime. If this decision is ever reversed abortions will again become a crime. The decision quickly shifts from being moral or immoral to becoming political. Once it becomes political it becomes a law that governs the people. Does the act of making a decision to have an abortion become a moral act because the Supreme Court of the United States of America decided to make it legal to have an abortion?

This is a discussion that should be conducted in the home with our young boys and girls while they are still in elementary school instead of waiting until they actually become sexually active and become face to face with the reality that they are not prepared to give birth to a child and provide all of the quality care that a child deserves. A child deserves the best quality care possible and should always feel safe with the parent or person who is providing care. As technology enters the home our children are being exposed to sex at an earlier age. As adults we need to talk to our children so they will be prepared to know how to establish some morals and values to prevent them from having to make this difficult decision of saying yes or no to an abortion.

From a Christian point of view, one would think that Christians do not have abortions. There are many local Christian congregations in Port Arthur and vicinity that do not believe in abortion, but because they were placed in a difficult situation, they had to deal with the reality of life at the moment, an abortion. As a result, they walk daily with the psychological memory of what if I would have kept the baby?

Harry Abrams is a licensed and ordained minister with a degree in psychology and sociology and is employed as a licensed chemical dependency counselor in Beaumont. He is also beginning a practicum at Baptist Hospital of Southeast Texas: Psychiatric Unit. Contact him at (409) 718-1599 or harryabrams1228@yahoo.com.