quietlyradical

For all of Facebook’s virtues and vices, there is one aspect of it which those of us of a certain age probably marvel at more than most. It provides a way to peek into the lives of friends and acquaintances from high school in a way that we otherwise would be unable to do. It was this phenomenon which led me to have a most interesting discussion with someone I haven’t actually seen in probably more than 25 years. For purposes of privacy, I’ll refer to her as “Elle.”

We attended a very large high school. In our 1981 graduating class there were 605 students and with a class that large, it wasn’t always possible to know everyone well. My closest friends were actually carry-overs from elementary and middle school. Those whom I didn’t meet until high school I would probably describe more as “friendly” rather than as actual “friends.”
Elle and I were on yearbook staff together. Soft-spoken and unbelievably sweet, Elle was pleasant to talk to, although perhaps a bit naïve. Even then, I understood that this pleasant little white girl had no idea what I had encountered in my own equally short life as one of just 40 African-American students in that class of 605, and even fewer in the college-prep track courses were both in (and the only black student on yearbook staff).

After graduation, I didn’t see Elle again until perhaps, the 20th high school reunion. She had married and apparently converted to Catholicism (saying grace over the banquet-style dinner and ending it with the sign of the cross.) We chatted amiably, albeit somewhat superficially, probably not expecting to see each other again until the next reunion in five years’ time. So, it was somewhat starting when I received a random Facebook Messenger message in 2019, in which Elle said she’d had a dream about me and had been praying for me.

I don’t recall that there was anything especially significant going on with me at that specific time, although COVID-19 was just beginning to make its way into the news. But I thanked her for her prayers (because let’s face it – we all need all the help we can get – supernatural or otherwise, right?) and caught her up on the challenges I had experienced during the last 5 years. I had lost my dad to Parkinson’s disease at the end of 2013, my 23-year-old son died by suicide in 2014, and my mom had succumbed to cancer in 2018. From that point we chatted online off and on throughout the pandemic and beyond, but usually about nothing of much significance, until November of 2024.

I was still reeling from the election outcome – feeling both disappointed by Kamala Harris’ seeming inexplicable defeat, but even more than that, the utter disgust I felt toward the half of the American population who thought it would be perfectly acceptable to allow a convicted felon to occupy the White House. Poor Elle had the extreme misfortune of reaching out to me while I was still in an incredibly bad headspace. (I was researching how to move overseas and refusing to leave the house because I couldn’t go out without eyeing my neighbors and random strangers on the street with suspicion of being “MAGAs.” I unloaded about my fears about everything from the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, voter suppression, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs being rolled back, which could lead to the repeal of the Civil Rights Act, and a return to Jim Crow (and then…and then… the REALLY BAD STUFF WILL HAPPEN!) I was spiraling – I can’t even lie.

After my rather unhinged rant, there was radio silence from Elle for several weeks. Although never explicitly stated, I’m pretty sure she voted for Trump, since as a Catholic, anti-abortion was theprimary issue. Fortunately, however, by the time she did finally reply, I had pulled myself together enough to have a someone rational exchange, and that is what I’d like to share now.

First and foremost, Trump lies. There are no states in which a baby can be aborted in the 9th month and there are no states that allow minors to get gender-affirming care without parental consent.
Second, countries around the world that have some of the most lenient abortion laws also have some of the lowest abortion rates (Council on Foreign Relations).

The most important factor, however, is that truly being pro-life is a lot different than simply being anti-abortion. Perhaps, instead of simply preaching that, “Abortion is murder,” a more effective strategy would be to take a closer look at why some women choose to have abortions and then work harder to address the root causes. According to an article in BMC Women’s Health the main reasons that women sought abortions included: financial concerns, partner-related issues, needs of other children, and health-related issues (for mother and/or baby) (Biggs, Gould and Greene Foster).According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “In 2023, 33.6 million adults and 13.8 children lived in households that experienced food insecurity” (Bergh, Rosenbaum and Nchako). One way to reduce the number of abortions might include providing better support for pregnant women and their families who are already experiencing food insecurity. However, some Republican policymakers are seeking to cut or severely restrict food benefits like SNAP; thereby making financial concerns worse for women living in poverty and increasing their desire for an abortion.

Another seemingly “no-brainer” solution to reducing abortion is to increase access to contraception. However, access to contraception provides other important benefits in addition to reducing the occurrence of abortions. For example, according to Berstein and Jones, access to contraception for young women resulted in higher education rates, more labor force participation, better career outcomes, higher earnings, and reduced levels of poverty (Bernstein and Jones). Additionally, while some lawmakers have argued against providing free or low-cost contraceptives to women already living in poverty, citing it as a waste of tax-payer dollars, a study by Wilkinson, Downs, and Edmonds, suggested that providing free or reduced cost access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) to Medicaid recipients was significantly less expensive than the costs of carrying a baby to term. The study observed adolescent Medicaid recipients in the state of Indiana from August 2017 through August 2018. The Indiana teens who carried a pregnancy to term incurred $4133 per patient on average. If those pregnancies had been prevented through Medicaid-provided contraception, researchers estimated that the cost would be reduced to $2016 per patient (Wilkinson, Downs and Tucker Edmonds).

Finland, The Netherlands, and Switzerland have the lowest abortion rates in the world despite also having some of the most lenient abortion laws. By providing strong social welfare programs and universal healthcare they have effectively eliminated poverty. By providing free, high-quality education, these countries have low unemployment rates. Generous parental leave and subsidized childcare programs in these countries provide parents with the tools that they need to provide for a child, even when a pregnancy is unplanned, thereby eliminating the major factors that prompt women to seek abortions in the first place (Broom). Unfortunately, the United States appears to be shunning the very programs that would lead to lower abortion rates. Ironically, it was the Biden-Harris Administration that proposed policies more closely aligned with helping parents-to-be overcome some of the financial worries that often lead them to seek out an abortion. Former President Biden proposed the Build Back Better bill (McPherson) . In its original form it included universal pre-kindergarten and subsidized childcare, paid family and medical leave, and free community college. During the 2024 Presidential campaign, Vice-President and Democratic Nominee Kamala Harris’ economic plan also included elements that would have addressed many of the issues that lead women to seek abortions (Gonzalez-Ramirez). The construction of 3 million new housing units to reduce housing costs, a $25,000 down payment allowance for first time home buyers, increasing the minimum wage, banning hidden fees and late charges from banks as well as corporate price gouging in the food industries, and expansions to the Child Tax Credit would have helped to place women facing an unplanned pregnancy to perhaps overcome many of the financial threats causing them to consider an abortion. Unfortunately, a Republican-controlled Congress gutted Mr. Biden’s Build Back Better plans and the voters, distracted by Ms. Harris’ committed to a woman’s right to choose, cheated the nation out of beneficial programs that could have led more women to actually make a pro-life choice.

Another major source of irony lies in the words of Donald Trump himself. While out on the campaign trail, Trump was quoted as saying that he would be a “protector of women” (Lebowitz). Sadly, however, early evidence suggests that the repeal of Roe v. Wade has actually done just the opposite. A team of scientists from the University of California San Francisco recently published the Turnaway Study, a long-term research project examining the impacts upon women and their children when an abortion is denied. These impacts included four times greater odds of living below the Federal Poverty level and an increased likelihood of remaining with abusive partners. (Foster). In addition, although there have been no direct links as of yet, between lack of abortion access and child abuse and neglect, poverty has long been associated with child neglect along with physical and emotional abuse of children (How Poverty and Child Abuse Relate to One Another). Since studies have shown that women unable to secure an abortion are more likely to live in poverty, there may be at least an indirect connection between abortion access and child maltreatment.

Perhaps saddest of all are two trends recently observed in Texas, a state with some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the U.S. First, infant mortality has actually increased in Texas with a greater number of infants dying from congenital abnormalities (Benham and Scullin). In the past a fetus identified during ultrasound as having non-survivable congenital abnormalities would likely have been aborted, sparing parents of experiencing the trauma of carrying a child to term and undergoing the stress of delivering a child whom they already knew would not survive.

The second trend, however, is even worse. Texas first responders have reported an uptick in the number of newborns being abandoned in dumpsters, next to clothing donation bins, bushes in residential areas, industrial ditches, and one in a garbage truck’s trash compactor (Hennessy-Fiske). While these are unintended consequences, they need to be considered seriously, nonetheless.

Finally, I think it is also important that we look back, as a country, to the reality surrounding abortion before Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade was enacted in 1973. Although 1973 might sound like ancient history to some, it is estimated that over 100 million (30%) Americans born between 1937 and 1972 were still alive as of the US 2020 Census (Comen). However, it is important to remember that the illegality of abortion did not eliminate it. The laws simply drove it underground into the hands of unqualified individuals using questionable practices. Exact numbers are hard to obtain but estimates ranged from around 200,000 to 1.2 million illegal or self-induced abortions per year, between 1950 and 1972. (Benson Gold). Women who died from abortions declined dramatically with the enactment of Roe V. Wade in 1973.

History has repeatedly shown us that any time the government has tried to legislate moral issues, the efforts have not only failed miserably but have also created even greater problems. Prohibition in the 1920s didn’t stop people from drinking; it simply opened the door to illegal trafficking of alcohol and the violence that often accompanied it. Extremely strict U.S. drug laws have done nothing to curb the opioid crisis and has led to a violent ecosystem of drug-related gang violence similar to the Mafia involvement in bootlegging operations in the past. Based on historical evidence, it is almost certain that rolling back Roe v. Wade will result in an underground illegal abortion industry in the near future. This is perfect the final bit of irony, in that I suspect that many of the people who claim to be “pro-life” are actually some of the same individuals who responded to the Black Lives Matter movement by saying “All Lives Matter.” However, as we seem to be ready as a nation to return to days when young women would risk and often their lives as a result of seeking illegal abortions, I would have to ask those who will say that “All Lives Matter” some important questions. Do the lives of unwanted children born into poverty and abusive homes because their mothers could not obtain a legal abortion matter? What about babies born with horrific congenital birth defects, who may only live a few pain-filled hours after their births because abortion is no longer an option for their parents, do the lives of their parents matter? What about the countless you women who may die as a result of seeking illegal abortions or trying a self-induced abortion, do their lives matter?

Being “pro-life” and “anti-abortion” are two completely different things. I don’t think people should have the right to call themselves “pro-life” when their only concern is for an unborn fetus and not for the countless other lies that are affected and if you are going to insist that all lives matter, make sure that you are actually advocating for all lives to be protected.

Works Cited
Benham, Barbara and Robin Scullin. “Analysis Suggests Texas Abort Ban Resulted in Increase in Infant Deaths in State in Year After Law Went into Effect.” 24 June 2024. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 21 January 2025. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/analysis-suggests-2021-texas-abortion-ban-resulted-in-increase-in-infant-deaths-in-state-in-year-after-law-went-into-effect.

Benson Gold, Rachel. “Lessons From Before Roe: Will Past Be Prologue?” Guttmacher Policy Review 1 March 2003. 22 January 2025. https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2003/03/lessons-roe-will-past-be-prologue.

Bergh, Katie, Dottie Rosenbaum and Caitlin Nchako. “Republican SNAP Proposals Could Take Food Away From Millions of Low-Income Individuals and Families.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (2025). 21 January 2025. https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/republican-snap-proposals-could-take-food-away-from-millions-of-low-income.

Bernstein, Anna and Kelly Jones. “The Economic Effects of Contraceptive Access: A Review of the Evidence.” Center on the Economics of Reproductive Health (2019). 21 January 2025. https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/B381_Contraception-Access_Final.pdf.

Biggs, M. Antonia, Heather Gould and Diana Greene Foster. “Understanding Why Women Seek Abortions in the US.” BMC Women’s Health (2013). 21 January 2025. https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6874-13-29#Tab2.

Broom, Douglas. “Why Nordic Nations are the Best Places to Have Children.” 2019. 21 January 2025. https://www.weforum.org/stories/2019/03/nordic-nations-best-places-for-parents-children/.

Comen, Evan. “How Many Peoplle Are Alive From the Year You Were Born.” 24/7 Wall St 29 July 2020. 22 January 2025. https://247wallst.com/special-report/2020/07/29/how-many-people-are-alive-from-the-year-you-were-born/.

Council on Foreign Relations. “Abortion Law: Global Comparisons.” 2024. 21 January 2025. https://www.cfr.org/article/abortion-law-global-comparisons.

Foster, Diana Greene. “The Turnaway Study.” n.d. Advancing Standards in Reproductive Health. 21 January 2025. https://www.ansirh.org/research/ongoing/turnaway-study.

Gonzalez-Ramirez, Andrea. “What To KNow About Kamala Harris’ Policy Proposals.” The Cut 15 October 2024. 21 January 2025. https://www.thecut.com/article/what-are-kamala-harris-policies.html.

Hennessy-Fiske, Molly. “Baby in Dumpster: A Spate of Abandoned Newborns Unsettles Texas.” The Washington Post 28 December 2024. 21 January 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/12/28/abandoned-baby-texas-abortion-ban/.

“How Poverty and Child Abuse Relate to One Another.” 2025. Provision Promise. 21 January 2025. https://provisionpromise.org/blogs/promise/how-poverty-and-child-abuse-relate-to-one-another?srsltid=AfmBOoqYBckzxDhU9j1gj9auFbd1rsz8bxgy0smOEU9a96BnQavkdmKy.

Lebowitz, Megan. “2024 Election.” 30 October 2024. NBC News. 21 January 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-protect-women-like-it-or-not-rcna178147.

McPherson, Lindsey. “How Build Back Better Started and How It’s Going: A Timeline.” CQ Roll Call 21 July 2022. 21 January 2025. https://rollcall.com/2022/07/21/how-build-back-better-started-and-how-its-going-a-timeline/.

Wilkinson, Tracey, Stephen Downs and Brownsyne Tucker Edmonds. “Cost Minimization Analysist of Same-Day Long-Acting Reversible Contraception for Adolescents.” Journal of the American Medical Association (2019). 21 January 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6739899/.