John Forbes Kerry-Heinz wants to reduce abortions

[Regis Philbin]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/09/19/kerry_urges_cooperation_to_reduce_abortions/

Kerry urges cooperation to reduce abortions

He stresses reaching a 'common ground'


By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | September 19, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry yesterday called for a new national commitment to reduce the number of abortions, saying that both sides on the abortion debate can reach ``common ground" on the sharply divisive cultural issue that was prominent in his defeat in the 2004 presidential election.

In an intimate speech laced with references to his Catholic upbringing, Kerry chastised abortion-rights supporters and anti-abortion activists for the ``overly partisan" tone that has polarized the nation. Despite their intense opposition, Kerry said, there are areas of agreement -- such as tax credits for adoptive parents, more government aid for working mothers, and health insurance for everyone.

``Even as a supporter of Roe v. Wade, I am compelled to acknowledge that the language both sides use on this subject can be, unfortunately, misleading and unconstructive," Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, told an audience at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. ``Instead of making enemies, we need to make progress."

The speech is Kerry's most extensive attempt to describe his religious views and define where he stands on so-called ``values issues" since President Bush defeated him for the presidency in 2004. Bush and the Republican Party used abortion, gay marriage, and other controversial social issues to motivate conservative voters to the polls against Kerry.

Throughout his career, Kerry has said he is personally opposed to abortion but would not impose his views on others. On the campaign trail in 2004, Kerry said he believed human life begins at conception but asserted that, if elected, he wouldn't appoint a Supreme Court justice who would ``undo a constitutional right" by overturning Roe.

[LesterX]

So Regis, can we assume that you support increased access to birth control and comprehensive sex education for young people since you are so concerned about the abortion rate? Surely you can't support the abstinence-only crap of which the right-wingers are so fond, since it hasn't been shown to work?

[Annoyedlistner]

i want to know what Regis' definition of common ground is.

[SparkleHugs]

I think that even the most pro-choice person wants to reduce abortions. no pro choice person is excited about abortions and think they are a good thing. I completely agree with kerry, this is a big issue between the right and left and something should be done to close that rift, and it shouldnt be to erase the option.

and we all know that Reg has no concept of common ground. lol

[db44]

Agrees with Sparkle.

I consider myself pro-choice, but I do believe there are definite limitations.

For instance, late-term abortions, unless there is a much greater health risk to mother than the procedure itself, should be banned. There's no reason for them otherwise, as it's not a choice you make so quickly after so long.

I believe abortions should be legal on grounds of health, failed birth control methods and rape. I do not believe they should be allowed as front line birth control, or if someone thinks the "pull out" method is legitamite birth control.

I also think most pro-choice people have their own guidelines, and only the few believe all forms and reasons for abortion should be accepted.

Are there no reasons you can accept Brad? Do you think a raped woman should be forced to carry and deliver a child they never had any desire to have?

[WannaBreatheYou]

Abortion is a very, very personal decision to make and an extremely difficult one to come to. The people who use it as a "front line birth control" method are so few and far between, it's hardly even worth mentioning. Most women who come to this decision do so with heartbreaking results that live with them for the rest of their lives. I know all of this from personal experience.

[Richard Tafoya]

Regis doesn't realize that virtually everyone on the country wants abortions to be virtually non-existent. We can get there by providing realistic sex education and contraception/morning after pill distribution in schools and communities as Les noted. But there will always be a few situations where a woman is faced with circumstances that make it pretty much impossible to move forward with her pregnancy, and for those rare instances, there needs to be a safe, legal process to terminate that pregnancy.

[db44]

But on the other hand, there are enough who refuse to fund sex education and try to make contraceptives harder to get instead of easier.

[LesterX]

^Exactly. And more often than not, those folks are staunchly "pro-life," but the anti-sex ed/anti-contraception policies contribute to unintended pregnancies and thus increase the number of abortions. It's ridiculous that our federal government only funds abstinence-only programs that have proven time and again not to work.

Two prominent researchers of adolescent sexuality, Peter Bearman of Columbia and Hannah Brueckner of Yale found that while teenagers who took virginity pledges as part of abstinence-only programs were more likely to delay sexual activity (by about 18 months), they were just as likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases — and tended not to use contraceptives once they did become sexually active. Moreover, virginity pledgers are five times more likely to have oral or anal sex in the belief that such activities do not violate their pledges.

...

Interestingly, California (one of three states that refuse to accept federal sex-education funds and opt instead to provide a more comprehensive sex education) saw its teen pregnancy rate drop 40 percent between 1992 and 2000, well ahead of the national average during that period of 24 percent. And the Netherlands, which has long had a comprehensive sex education curricula has one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the world — just 8.1 per 1000 for girls ages 15-19.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world at 93 per 1000 — at least twice that of Canada, England, France, and Sweden, and 10 times that of the Netherlands. “As a direct result, abortion rates are twice or three times as high as European countries,” said Sharon L. Camp, president of the Guttmacher Institute, a non-partisan research organization. Moreover, one of every two young Americans will get a sexually transmitted disease by age 25, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,211341,00.html
(Note that the source cannot be accused of a liberal bias.)

[DoubleEdgeSword]

The best means for preventing abortion is education, not admonishment. "Just say no" didn't work too well in the "war on drugs" either.

[tiger_rascal]

Pro-responsibility. Education is very important, but if we do not teach teenagers that not having sex is the only fool proof way to not pro-create we are lying to them, and that is dangerous. Sex nowadays in this country is often looked at casually and as if its a need that without it we will die. Nonsense! Being a virgin is a very beautiful thing.

Pro-responsibility. Pro-self-control. Pro-education. Pro-life.

[Annoyedlistner]

Pro-responsibility. Education is very important, but if we do not teach teenagers that not having sex is the only fool proof way to not pro-create we are lying to them, and that is dangerous. Sex nowadays in this country is often looked at casually and as if its a need that without it we will die. Nonsense! Being a virgin is a very beautiful thing.

Pro-responsibility. Pro-self-control. Pro-education. Pro-life.

i agree chad...but what if someone is raped?

[tiger_rascal]

Then that person must do what she feels is best. It should be their choice to abort or not. Thankfully, a woman, if raped, can report to the hospital, the doctor can do what he/she has to do so that the abortion does not even come to be thanks to drugs like "Plan B". And doctors should still be able to perform abortions in emergency cases, of course.

[db44]

WHy would it have to be drugs? Just curious, do drugs make it better to you? Not everybody who deems themselves on the pro-life side would agree.

There are extremes on the PL-side who are as extremists as the all abortions okay people, which I'm sure you realized. Some would want to ban abortions and drugs even for abortions or even if the mother's life is in jeopardy, even if the child would be a still life. A friend of one of my best friends had to go out of state (Florida) for a situation like the latter one: The doctor wouldn't allow an abortion even if the birth could have killed the mother and produced a dead child.

[tiger_rascal]

Im sorry, Dave, I dont understand your question. What other options are there that early? There is no fetus to abort at that stage and its possible the woman may not even become pregnant, the drug is precautionary.

[LesterX]

Pro-responsibility. Education is very important, but if we do not teach teenagers that not having sex is the only fool proof way to not pro-create we are lying to them, and that is dangerous.

Are you assuming that comprehensive sex education programs fail to do this? If so, I think you are making an incorrect assumption. Comprehensive sex ed. programs do emphasize abstinence and discuss the success/failure rates of various methods of contraception. It is actually the abstinence-only programs that are lying to youth, as evidence by a government study on federally-funded abstinence only programs, which foundation that "over 80% of the curricula...contained false, misleading, or distorted information about reproductive health." (http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/factsheet/fssexcur.htm)

[db44]

I guess I'm not understanding you either. I thought you were suggesting the drug was the preferable way to go.

[SparkleHugs]

I just read my term paper assignment for my political parties class, and i have to pick a topic that i think would divide the country in an election, i definately think this is one of those issues.

Ive heard alot of debate on the morning after pill and if it is an abortion or not. so many people think that conception happens the moment after sex, but it doesnt. My biology professor told me (and i assume hes right) that it takes up to 9 days for conception to fully take place.

i remember being called a slut in like 3rd grade because i wouldnt say i would wait until marriage to have sex ( i was a realistic 9 year old who couldnt predict what i would do as an adult). though i am the very last of all my friends to have lost her virginity. and there was a day care center at my high school for the students with children.

my mom was told by her doctor that 80% of the babyboomers had herpes. I really think its a secret disease no one talks about because its embarassing. my friend told me about it and was justifying it by saying its so common now, pretty soon its going to be as common as the cold sore. which i just think if thats the case, i can do without sex....lol but i have always been way more afraid to contact an std than i have been to get pregnant. i think sex ed is so important, even if you dont want the teenagers to have sex they need to learn the risks of doing so at somepoint in their lives and since we all cant wait until we are married to learn alegebra, then we shouldnt have to wait for an appropriate lesson in sex. I remember my health science teacher in college taught us about STD's by showing us grotesque pictures of the worst cases of all of them. In all honestly there were pictures where i could not tell if it was a man or a woman.