Abortion cartoon

Discussing all things political in NW Arkansas and beyond.
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Abortion cartoon

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actually the argument for abortion based upon women getting pregnant through rape is a weak one. last i heard, only one-percent of one-percent of abortions were performed for a woman who had gotten pregnant because of rape.
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Post by Doug »

Anonymous wrote:actually the argument for abortion based upon women getting pregnant through rape is a weak one. last i heard, only one-percent of one-percent of abortions were performed for a woman who had gotten pregnant because of rape.
DOUG
The rate may be low, but the argument that a woman should have the right to an abortion is not founded primarily on the possibility of rape or incest. It is mentioned in many laws, however, because even most hardline conservatives admit that a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy in such cases.
"We could have done something important Max. We could have fought child abuse or Republicans!" --Oona Hart (played by Victoria Foyt), in the 1995 movie "Last Summer in the Hamptons."
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Post by Dardedar »

Anonymous wrote:actually the argument for abortion based upon women getting pregnant through rape is a weak one. last i heard, only one-percent of one-percent of abortions were performed for a woman who had gotten pregnant because of rape.
DAR
I don't see how the actual number of women raped is relevant to the question of whether the woman who are raped and conceive, should be forced to give birth.

Approximately 1,370,000 abortions occur annually in the U.S. according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

One percent of one percent of that total equals: 137

That's probably too low but whatever the number, either you think those women should be forced to give birth to the rapists child, or you think they should have the choice.

There are approximately 126,000 abortions conducted each day (worldwide). That's almost 46 million per year.

One percent of one percent of that total is: 4,600

I think those women should have the choice.

D.
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According to this pro-life site there are 1-2 pregnancies per 1,000 rapes. If we go with one, that's ten times higher than your number.

"And how many pregnancies result?
About 1 or 2 for each 1000. Using the 170,000 figure, this translates into an overall total of 170 to 340 assault rape pregnancies a year in the entire United States."

According to this rightwing pro-life site:

"Only 1% are performed because of rape or incest;"

That's another ten times higher than your number. But again, the actual "percentage" is irrelevant to the question and certainly irrelevant to the women that actually have to deal with this.
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Post by Tamara »

Doug is right that the main argument for pro-choice is not the fact that in a minority of cases the choice for abortion is based on rape or incest. The idea is that women should be able to have the freedom of a sexually active life (like men do) without being forced into motherhood if she accidently becomes pregnant. Also, having a small number of rape victim abortions doesn't make it any less pertinent as an issue.
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Post by Barbara Fitzpatrick »

Absolutely true a woman should have the choice of whether or not to risk her life, health, and economic well-being in having a child. From the kid's side, every child should have the right to be wanted - and not have to live the nasty life of one who isn't. There are things worse than death.

On another note, I think your rape-pregnancy stats are low. When I went to a rape crisis workshop on campus several months ago, they were saying more like 25% rapes result in pregnancy (that may be campus stats only, but I don't think so). The pregnancy stats came with a few other disheartening definitely campus-only stats - 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men on college campuses are sexually assaulted annually and of the women, 1 in 5 are actually raped - with 90% of them knowing their rapist. You start looking at college enrollment, then add faculty and staff, and you get a lot more rapes and a lot more pregnancies than what Anonymous cites.
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Another Bush Appointment Mistake

Post by Doug »

Barbara Fitzpatrick wrote:On another note, I think your rape-pregnancy stats are low. When I went to a rape crisis workshop on campus several months ago, they were saying more like 25% rapes result in pregnancy (that may be campus stats only, but I don't think so). The pregnancy stats came with a few other disheartening definitely campus-only stats - 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men on college campuses are sexually assaulted annually and of the women, 1 in 5 are actually raped - with 90% of them knowing their rapist. You start looking at college enrollment, then add faculty and staff, and you get a lot more rapes and a lot more pregnancies than what Anonymous cites.
DOUG
This reminds me of another Bush moron appointee: Leon Holmes.
Senate Confirms Controversial Nominee to Federal Court

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 7, 2004; Page A04


The Senate voted 51 to 46 yesterday to confirm a nomination to the U.S. District Court in Little Rock after a sharp debate over his comments about abortion, women's rights and other topics.

Six Democrats, including both Arkansas senators, backed the nomination of James Leon Holmes, offsetting five Republicans who said his conservative positions were too extreme. Holmes, a former president of Arkansas Right to Life, is the last of 25 judges to be confirmed from a group that reached the Senate floor under a recent agreement between the two parties. Senate Democrats continue to block a handful of controversial nominees to U.S. circuit courts.

Maryland's two Democratic senators and Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) voted against Holmes's nomination, and Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) voted for it.

Holmes, a Little Rock lawyer, has written a number of strongly worded articles and letters over the years that provided grist for his opponents. Much of the day-long debate centered on his 1980 letter backing a constitutional ban on abortion. In it, he wrote that "concern for rape victims is a red herring because conceptions from rape occur with approximately the same frequency as snowfall in Miami."

Holmes later apologized for the comment, but several Democrats said it betrayed a temperament that disqualified him from a lifelong appointment to the federal bench.

"This is something you might expect out of a Neanderthal era," Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a floor speech. "Why in heaven's name did the president nominate him?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/ar ... 4Jul6.html
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Post by Dardedar »

DAR
And then there was (the late) Fay Boozman who claimed something similar:

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In Arkansas, there have been signs that the fight between former Democratic Rep. Blanche Lambert Lincoln and GOP state Sen. Fay Boozman had closed somewhat, from roughly a 20-point Lincoln advantage to one in the 8-12-point range. But Boozman, an eye surgeon, did neither his candidacy nor the reputation of the University of Arkansas medical school (from which he graduated) any favors with his remark that women who are raped are protected from pregnancy by ``God's little protective shield.'' Boozman said he was misquoted and was trying to say that a woman's fear during rape makes pregnancy less likely.

http://www.cookpolitical.com/column/1998/101798.php
***

And:

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Arkansas Republican says rape victims less likely to get pregnant

The Republican candidate for the US Senate from Arkansas, Fay Boozman, asserted recently that rape victims were less likely to become pregnant. Boozman, an eye surgeon, said that an adrenaline rush triggered by fear causes hormonal changes that block a woman's ability to conceive during a violent attack. He denied a newspaper report that he had attributed the phenomenon to "God's little protective shield."

Confronted with the remarks, Boozman commented, "I'm not saying there is a protection against a young lady being impregnated during a rape. I didn't say that. I said it was rare for that to happen." His Democratic opponents released statements from physicians refuting his assertions.

http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2005/ ... oozman.txt
***

Boozman died last April. I think he was doing something with his tractor in his barn and the barn fell on him.

D.
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Ridiculous and Immoral Conservative Trick

Post by Doug »

Look how the conservatives--without actually checking the numbers!--derive that the statistics are low for rape pregnancy.

===============
And how many pregnancies result?

About 1 or 2 for each 1000. Using the 170,000 figure, this translates into an overall total of 170 to 340 assault rape pregnancies a year in the entire United States.

Only one or two out of 1000? Please explain.

There are about 100 million women in the United States old enough to be at risk for assault rape. Let’s use a figure of 200,000 forcible rapes every year. The studies available agree that there are no more than two pregnancies per 1,000 assault rapes.

So much for the numbers. Let’s look at it from another angle and see if that figure makes sense.

- Of these 200,000 women who were raped, one-third were either too old or too young to get pregnant. That leaves 133,000 at risk of pregnancy.

- A woman is capable of being fertilized only three days out of her 30-day month. So divide 133,000 by 10, and 13,300 women remain.

- One-fourth of all women in the United States of child-bearing age have been sterilized. That drops the figure to 10,000.

- Only half of the assailants penetrate her body and/or deposit sperm. Cut it in half again. We are own to 5,000.

- Fifteen percent of men are sterile; that drops the figure to 4,250. Fifteen percent of non-surgically sterilized women are naturally sterile. That reduces the number to 3,600.

- Another 15% are on the pill and/or are already pregnant. Now the figure is 3,070. Now factor in something that all adults know. It takes from five to ten months for an average couple to achieve a pregnancy. Using the smaller figure, to be conservative, divide the 3,000 figure by 5, and the number drops to about 600.

In a healthy, peaceful marriage, the miscarriage rate ranges up to about 15%. In this case, we have incredible emotional trauma. Her body is upset. Even if she conceives, the miscarriage rate is higher than in a more normal pregnancy. If she loses 20% of 600, there are 450 left. Finally, we must factor in one of the most important reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and that is psychic trauma. Every woman is aware that stress and emotional factors can alter her menstrual cycle. To get pregnant and stay pregnant, a woman’s body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain which is easily influenced by emotions. There’s no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy. So what further percentage reduction in pregnancy will this cause? No one really knows, but this factor certainly cuts the last figure by at least 50%, and probably more, leaving a final figure of 225 women pregnant each year, a number that closely matches the 200 found in clinical studies.


Why not allow abortion for rape pregnancies?

We must approach this with great compassion. The woman has been subjected to an ugly trauma, and she needs love, support and help. But she has been the victim of one violent act. Should we now ask her to be a party to a second violent act -that of abortion?
=====================
From:
"Why Can't We Love Them Both?" -- abortionfacts.com

DOUG
And how many pregnancies were checked by polling data to verify these low numbers? NONE.

Edited by Savonarola, 18Mar2006 12:20 -- shortened link
"We could have done something important Max. We could have fought child abuse or Republicans!" --Oona Hart (played by Victoria Foyt), in the 1995 movie "Last Summer in the Hamptons."
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Post by Doug »

DOUG
An interesting assessment on the rate of pregnancy by rape.

==========
In 2002, according to the 2002 National Crime Victimization Study, 86,290 women were raped. According to medical reports, the incidence of pregnancy for one-time unprotected sexual intercourse is 5%. By applying the 5% pregnancy rate to 86,290 women, RAINN [The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network] estimates that there were up to 4,315 pregnancies as a result of rape.
===========
The site then considers factors that could lower the estimate as well as raise the estimate.

Apparently, there are no hard numbers on the percent of rapes that result in pregnancy?

Edited by Savonarola, 18Mar2006 12:27 -- shortened link
"We could have done something important Max. We could have fought child abuse or Republicans!" --Oona Hart (played by Victoria Foyt), in the 1995 movie "Last Summer in the Hamptons."
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Post by Dardedar »

DAR
I read that same site before making my post. I know because I remember that disgustingly dishonest last sentence:

"Should we now ask her to be a party to a second violent act -that of abortion?"

This is so profoundly misleading because this is not the question at all. These people don't want to ask the woman any questions. No one is asking her to have an abortion! The question is, should a woman who is raped have the choice. These assholes want to tell her, with full inforcement by the power of the government, that she must carry the rapist's fetus to term or she will be charged with murder.

D.
----------------------
Another example of Bible morality: a woman must marry her rapist. Deut. 22:28-29

I suppose Christian morality has improved in that this is not required anymore.
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Post by Savonarola »

Great point, Doug. It's like creationism: start with your assumption, and make up enough bullshit to make "reality" fit your assumption.
And how many pregnancies result?

About 1 or 2 for each 1000.
Blah blah, math, etc.
If she loses 20% of 600, there are 450 left.
Just thought it'd be fun to point out that 80% of 600 is 480, not 450. These authors can't even be trusted to do simple math, apparently. I hope "Dr." Willke is never my physician.
Willke: "Okay, I'm going to put you on 400 grams of this twice a day."
Sav: "You mean 400 milligrams?"
Willke: "Well, my math says you need 400 grams, so 400 grams it is..."
Finally, we must factor in one of the most important reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and that is psychic trauma.
Translation: even when we cheat, we can't get the numbers we want, so in order to validate our claim, we have to make up another explanation.
No one really knows, but this [psychic trauma] factor certainly cuts the last figure by at least 50%, and probably more
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Absurd Numbers

Post by Doug »

No one really knows, but this [psychic trauma] factor certainly cuts the last figure by at least 50%, and probably more
DOUG
Sav picks up on the absurdity of this conservative approach to "science." Not only are the numbers created out of wishful thinking, and not only can they not do math, but when push comes to shove, they just make up reasons why the numbers should be changed.

"No one really knows, but this [psychic trauma] factor certainly cuts the last figure by at least 50%, and probably more."

So they are saying: "No one knows what this number is, but we can know what it is with certainty."
"We could have done something important Max. We could have fought child abuse or Republicans!" --Oona Hart (played by Victoria Foyt), in the 1995 movie "Last Summer in the Hamptons."
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Post by Dardedar »

DAR
They'll go to the reservation to get their South Dakota abortion:

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Oglala Sioux President on State Abortion Law
By Tim Giago
Indianz.Com

Tuesday 21 March 2006

When Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law it effectively banned all abortions in the state with the exception that it did allow saving the mother's life. There were, however, no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. His actions, and the comments of State Senators like Bill Napoli of Rapid City, SD, set of a maelstrom of protests within the state.

Napoli suggested that if it was a case of "simple rape," there should be no thoughts of ending a pregnancy. Letters by the hundreds appeared in local newspapers, mostly written by women, challenging Napoli's description of rape as "simple." He has yet to explain satisfactorily what he meant by "simple rape."

The President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Cecilia Fire Thunder, was incensed. A former nurse and healthcare giver she was very angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would make such a stupid law against women.

"To me, it is now a question of sovereignty," she said to me last week. "I will personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land which is within the boundaries of the Pine Ridge Reservation where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction."
***

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/032306WA.shtml
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UK steps forward to stop crazy American policy

Post by Dardedar »

Sexual Intelligence: UK tears off American gag

COLUMN By MARTY KLEIN, Ph.D.
From Sexual Intelligence
March 22, 2006

As we discussed years ago (click here), in 2001 President George W. Bush instituted America's Global Gag Rule.

This cut off family planning assistance to any international group that even discusses abortion using their non-U.S. funds. That's like saying you won't give your child a textbook if he talks about reading comic books with his friends, or reads a comic book his friend buys.

Marty Klein, Ph.D.The United Kingdom is giving $5 million to a new Global Safe Abortion Program. This fund will increase access to safe abortion services in countries that have lost or cannot accept family planning funding from the United States because of new American restrictions.

"We work very closely with the Americans but we have a very different view from them on abortion," UK Minister Gareth Thomas said. "We know from experience that the absence of sexual and reproductive health services results in an increase in unintended pregnancies and, inevitably, a greater number of unsafe abortions."

This is not secret knowledge, nor does it challenge anyone's common sense: as every country except ours understands, the leading cause of abortion is unintended pregnancy. When the Religious Right refuses to reduce unintended pregnancy (except to tell people "don't have sex," which doesn't work), it shows that its opposition to abortion is political and psychological far more than ethical.

The Bush Administration says you're either in favor of unlimited government surveillance or you support terrorism. With the same tortured logic, they also feel you're either against sex or you're immoral.

We say you're either in favor of contraception and comprehensive sexuality education, or you support unintended pregnancy. Which means you're in favor of abortion.

Marty Klein, Ph.D. (www.SexEd.org).

Marty Klein, Ph.D is the author and publisher of Sexual Intelligence, a monthly electronic newsletter. This column is reprinted from Issue #73, March 15, 2006. For information about republishing this column, contact the author.

***

http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews/?id=234&article=3
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Post by Hogeye »

Barbara wrote:The pregnancy stats came with a few other disheartening definitely campus-only stats - 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men on college campuses are sexually assaulted annually and of the women, 1 in 5 are actually raped.
Barbara, you may want to check your facts on this. This has been known to be fraudulent "fact" for a long time. (This is on the Mythbuster Board isn't it? It should be.)
Ten Most Common Feminist Myths wrote:1. Myth: One in four women in college has been the victim of rape or attempted rape.

Fact: This mother of all factoids is based on a fallacious feminist study commissioned by Ms. magazine. The researcher, Mary Koss, hand-picked by hard-line feminist Gloria Steinem, acknowledges that 73 percent of the young women she counted as rape victims were not aware they had been raped. Forty-three percent of them were dating their "attacker" again.

Rape is a uniquely horrible crime. That is why we need sober and responsible research. Women will not be helped by hyperbole and hysteria. Truth is no enemy of compassion, and falsehood is no friend.

(Nara Schoenberg and Sam Roe, "The Making of an Epidemic," Toledo Blade, October 10, 1993; and Neil Gilbert, "Examining the Facts: Advocacy Research Overstates the Incidence of Date and Acquaintance Rape," Current Controversies in Family Violence eds. Richard Gelles and Donileen Loseke, Newbury Park, CA.: Sage Publications, 1993, pp.120-132; Robin Warshaw (with Ms. Foundation) I Never Called It Rape: The Ms. Report -- With afterward by Mary Koss, New York: Harper Perennial, 1988; Mary Koss, et al "The Scope of Rape," Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1987, Vol.55, pp.162-170; Mary Koss, et al "Stranger and Acquaintance Rape," Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1988, Vol.12, pp.1/24.Campus Crime and Security, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 1997. *According to this study, campus police reported 1,310 forcible sex offenses on U.S. campuses in one year. That works out to an average of fewer than one rape per campus.)
Basically, the "study" counted a yes answer to questions like have you ever had sex and later regretted it and have you ever got drunk and had sex when you didn't intend to as rape. Feminists lose credibility by spouting such rape stat nonsense.
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Another Abortion Cartoon

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Post by Barbara Fitzpatrick »

Legally rape is penetration of any body cavity with any object against the wishes of the owner of said body cavity. I got the stats from the UofA health center at a rape crisis seminar.
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Post by Savonarola »

That is great. :D
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