When Idaho Sen. Dan Foreman shouted at a UI student group affiliated with Planned Parenthood about his views on abortion last month, it brought to light a common predicament with reproductive rights and male politicians.
“Abortion is murder. I stand against it,” Foreman said in a video from the incident.
Lindsay Trombly | Argonaut
He said he is against what Planned Parenthood stands for, but his justification for saying that is a lousy one because his opinion is based off his religion and political affiliation.
“I am a Roman Catholic. I am a conservative Republican. I think what you guys do stinks,” Foreman said to the student lobbyists.
Planned Parenthood supports women who decide to have an abortion, but that is it. They help the community and do not force women into having an abortion.
Women sometimes don’t have a choice when it comes to giving birth, but abortion gives them that choice.
According to a survey done by Guttmacher Institute in 2004, women have received abortions because of these reasons. Approximately 5 percent are victims of rape, 3 percent will encounter fetal health problems, 4 percent have physical health problems, 4 percent of births would interfere with education or career, 7 percent are not mature enough to raise a child, 8 percent don’t want to be a single mother, 19 percent are done having children, 23 percent can’t afford a child and 25 percent aren’t ready for a child.
The statistics above, prove that not everyone is physically, mentally or financially ready to care for a child. This isn’t just for single women.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, among married women, 4 percent of pregnancies end in abortion. Among unmarried women, 27 percent of pregnancies end in abortion.
It is sad this issue is so politicized considering it is up to the woman and the individual circumstances on if she decides to have a medical procedure that affects her own health.
A Pew Research Center study found that 62 percent of Republicans think abortion should be illegal in most cases, and 79 percent of Democrats think abortion should be legal in all cases.
Religion is heavily taken into account. People who are more religious tend to be against abortions.
According to another survey done by Pew, 76 percent of white evangelical Protestants say having an abortion is morally wrong. Just 23 percent of people unaffiliated with a religion agree.
Purely having an opinion about abortion based on your religion isn’t an educated viewpoint, and each abortion is on an individual case to case basis.
Politics and religion aren’t the only things that split our viewpoints. A 2012 Gallup poll found that 44 percent of women were more likely than 38 percent of men to call themselves “pro-choice”
The poll statistics make sense — men don’t necessarily know what women go through when giving birth and caring for a child.
People who don’t believe in abortion aren’t wrong. But their views often intrude on a woman’s right to choose.
Every instance is different, but getting an abortion actually helps some women in the long run for their future.
As a newfound feminist, I fight for women’s rights and all gender rights. Abortion is one of the biggest aspects of that.
Lindsay Trombly can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @lindsay_trombly