A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS...

I guess I have a question about my research paper.  I have decided to look at global public opinions on the topic of abortion because I felt that it was more interesting that a historical view of the United States' opinion.  My problem is that I've chosen countries who either intentionally or culturally encourage the oppression of women.  

One thing that I am so adamant about is avoiding being labeled a feminist.  So, it should be no surprise that I have to make my claim here:

 Ok, now that's out of the way...back to the issue at hand.  There is always the argument that as Americans we tend to force our standards and systems upon other countries, especially non-Western countries.  We tend to hold our treatment of women and their liberties as the mold that they should follow.  The U.S. typically sees some cultures in India as having a patriarchal society with oppressive behaviors toward women.  But what about the women who actually live in the culture?  Some reports say that these women who are perceived by the U.S. to be oppressed, really don't feel that way--they are satisfied and content with the way they live their lives.  

To bring it all full circle, what does this mean for the topic of abortion?  When you boil down to it, abortion is typically associated with the privacy of a woman's body--which is a right.  My main goal in writing my research paper is to be careful not to ignore background information about that country's culture and just report on the statistics.  The politics behind a woman's place in individual societies is essential to understanding why a public may hold a particular viewpoint.

Do you believe that I am heading in the right direction?  Are there any countries that I shouldn't touch? 

CALEEFORNEEA...

Most late night talk show hosts joke about how "dense" Americans are, as well as many other entertainers.  I heard a song by Jadakiss & Anthony Hamilton called "Why" and there is a lyric that goes: 

"...Why they let the Terminator win the election?  Come on, pay attention."

Arnold Schwarzenegger will never be able to leave his Hollywood image behind, so why not move closer to Hollywood and become governor?  The partisan lines are drawn very geographically in California.  The population living next to the ocean makes up the majority of California's liberal state, but inland is where the most conservatism lays. 

In an article titled "Abortion on Demand in California?" Becky Yeh highlights the booming industry of abortion within the state.  Carol Hogan of California Catholic Conference says that abortion is, "an industry in California...individuals in the state can have an abortion whenever and wherever, compliments of taxpayers". 

The California Catholic Conference works to educate voters that "their tax money is paying for abortions".  Hogan believes that not many people know about this.  In 2007, California spent $23 MILLION on 80,000 abortions in MediCal.

I've heard numerously that the only good thing Rod Blagojevich did in Illinois was create the "Illinois Healthy Women" program as a "new effort to deliver family planning services for low income women" in 2004.  By providing family planning services and free contraceptives, this program is designed to "avoid unplanned pregnancies and providing them with reproductive health care".  The program is run by the state's Medicaid agency--the Illinois Department of Public Aid (IDPA).  The federal government "will cover 90 percent of the cost of the family planning services provided under the new program".  


Where do you think the money comes to pay for this?  FROM YOU!  Just like Caleeforneea (*cue Arnold accent), these type of programs are paid for by tax payer money, but yet are so political in nature.  

It shouldn't be a surprise that most citizens don't realize that their tax money is supporting abortion when their principles are against it.  

WHEN THE CZAR HAS A COLD, ALL RUSSIA COUGHS...

The title of this article, "Russia Sees Rise in Pro-Life Views" gives away the subject.  This article was written fairly recently--September 2010.  It states that the current law in Russia allows women to demand an abortion up to "12 weeks gestation, up to 22 weeks for social reasons, and at any point during pregnancy for 'medical necessity'.  The 'service' is offered free of charge at all state clinics".  These regulations are pretty open.  It makes me wonder what "social reasons" would mean by law.  

This article posts a little chart on the social reasons for and against abortion.  See:

"Social reasons" can be an umbrella category.  What constitutes a social reason?  If being plus size or obese is highly frowned upon in society, could a woman opt for a legal abortion because she doesn't want to get fat?  Seems to be too broad and whenever you create laws, you must create them with a certain balance between being broad, but not too specific either.  

A man from Human Life International (HLI), Joseph Meaney, says, "Russia has had some of the worst abortion legislation in the world since the 1920s...and basically, abortion was a way of life under communism".  Meaney speculates that the increase in pro-life views is from the fact that Russia is dying out.  He says their population "...has actually shrunk by over 12 million people just since 1992...so literally, Russia is a dying country, and abortion is one of the main reasons for it".


 When I first read this, I thought his statement that abortion is directly correlated to the decreasing population was a bold statement.  I would think there is other reasons, which he does give.  He says that, "life expectancy is lessening in the country due to alcohol, drug abuse, and, to some extent, AIDS".  But he goes on to add that:

 
Abortions are actually interfering with Russia's labor and employment.  HLI reports indicate that the work force is decreasing rapidly.  Meaney states, "...they desperately need more children, not only to fill their country, but even to fill their workforce, and it's just not happening".  This is happening in other places around the world, including many European countries.  These places are forced to import labor (mainly Muslims) because there aren't enough people in the hiring population in their country.  I found it interesting that abortion causes problems well beyond it's own question of legality.  Loose abortion laws have created many social problems for countries that take time and resources from institutions. 

NO GIRLS ALLOWED!!

The article titled "Infanticide, Abortion Responsible for 60 Million Girls Missing in Asia" is well worth reading!  

Female Infanticide:  "The overt killing or neglect until death of female babies. It may also take the form of preferential abortion" (as defined here)."The weapons being used against them are prenatal sex selection, abortion, and female infanticide--the systematic killing of girls soon after they are born."  

               The UN is saying that it is because of these practices that are responsible for 60 MILLION missing girls in Asia.  

"Twenty-five million men in China currently can’t find brides because there is a shortage of women."  

               China is facing a serious, serious gender imbalance if things keep going as they are going.  By having this imbalance, a lot of violence stems from this situation.  Women are taken by force, against their will to be pushed into marriage.  I'm still trying to find a link to a video I watched in one of my classes, but there was a story of a very young woman who was taken from her village and forced to marry a 70 year old man who was very ill and couldn't find a bride to take care of him.  He would beat her and confine her to the house so she would not run away.  She was raped repeatedly until she became pregnant.  Luckily, she was able to conceive a baby boy (I wonder what he would have done to her if she had a girl?).  The documentary goes on to tell the story about how she was rescued.  A man dedicated to finding lost women did a lot of research and was able to find the missing woman.  He went to the village she was living in and rescued her.  They tried to take the woman's son with her, but the village people were throwing stones at them and they had to escape.  

               This imbalance also leads to a commercial sex trade.  The UN's 2005 report states "that up to 800,000 people being trafficked across borders each year, and as many as 80 percent are women and girls, most of whom are exploited"

"Historically infanticide was something that was practiced in poor places in China," Mosher said. "But when the one-child policy came into effect we began to see in the wealthy areas of China, what had never been done before in history — the killing of little girls."

               It's interesting that the demographics for female infanticide have crossed through all social classes and rankings.  The One-Child Policy demands that families who have more than 1 child must pay fines in order to keep their 2nd child.  Some families have the money to continuously pay the fines, but usually the poor do not.  They must take measures to conceal the pregnancy, and when the child is born, it must be abandoned.  It's interesting that wealthy families are still killing baby girls even though they have the money to pay the fines.  I think having a second child creates a stigma for that woman and family within the village--especially if it is a girl.

I really liked this quote from Wanda Franz, the president of the National Right to Life Committee:

"We feel it's a serious problem that everybody should be concerned about and aware of...This is a form of abortion that, from our point of view is especially egregious. Abortion is claimed to help women; obviously in these cases, females are the direct victims, because women in these cultures are not valued"

MARK MY CALENDAR

I think I am going to write my research paper on the linear aspect of abortion--see what opinions are held in different countries rather than the history of opinions on abortion in the US.  I think there is a lot to write about within other countries.  For example, in China, whenever a woman is pregnant, she is not allowed to know the sex of her baby at her sonogram appointments because if it is not a boy, they have a higher chance of aborting it if they find out that it is a girl.  I found this Chinese Gender Chart to Determine Your Baby's Gender:

 I thought this was pretty interesting.  There seems to be a consensus that women who are 30-37 should not try to have babies unless it's in December.  According to this article the Chinese Gender Chart was found in a tombstone seven centuries ago!  Some reports show that this chart is better than 50/50 accuracy.  What do you think?