Blog 11; Russian Population Decrease due to abortions ?

Once again, legislation regarding abortion is a huge topic in the news. Russia has the worlds highest abortion rates, but also has the worlds highest infant and mother mortality rates. In 2009, 73 per 100 pregnancies were abortions. This is a huge number of abortions and the government plans to take steps in decreasing it because they say their population is declining. People opposing the campaigns say that even if abortions are limited, the population will still not be able to boost. The government's campaign will be to have advertisements that tell negative and alleged health risks that abortions cause. The government, like many in the United States, is also putting many restrictions on abortions, from when they can be performed, to information the doctors must tell patients. There is an underlying issue in Russia that is however not being addressed that could prevent abortions to begin with. That is the lack of contraceptives and information about contraceptives. During the Soviet rule, abortions were completely fine, however "Western" methods of contraceptives were seen to give women autonomy. Therefore, abortions were more "suitable" because that was in the hands of the government. Although the Soviet rule fell, contraceptives are still limited and often bad quality. Furthermore, contraceptive information is severely lacking because women have always relied on abortions for unwanted pregnancies.
The health care in Russia does not focus on women and actually gives faulty information about contraceptives and abortions.

As we discussed in class about Japan, different programs can and should be instated to boost the population; not restrictions and faulty information regarding a woman's reproductive systems and health. Also, if more women were education and had access to reliable contraceptives, abortions would decrease rapidly. The global issue regarding Russian abortions is not only limitations to them that infringe on women's rights, but also of governments giving faulty information to its' citizens. If this does happen, what is to stop the rest of the worlds powers from providing incorrect or uneducated information to its' masses to reach a goal. Furthermore, as more and more states in the U.S create strict laws regarding abortion, that further pushes other countries (less industrialized and up to date on medical care) to follow in our footsteps. It is bad enough for women in the United States, land of the free, to have "limited" medical care, but relatively speaking, many more women are suffering from extremely limited medical care and knowledge.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-obrien/russia-abortion_b_1084549.html

Blog 10; Presidential Candidate Stirs Abortion Talk

To no surprise, a big topic for new presidential candidates is abortion. From past news weeks, it has become obvious that the world, especially the United States is very focused on the legality of abortion. This week, the one hitting legal abortion hard is Democrat, Mitt Romney. In his hopes to become president, he wants to make a "personhood amendment". This amendment would make it constitutional law that life begins at conception. Conversely, if this amendment would ever take place, the rights to all abortions would be illegal. Romney also stated in an interview that the decision of Roe v Wade needed to be reversed. However, the article also states that Romney has a tendency to flip-flop his thoughts and ideas.
If a "personhood amendment" would ever take place in the United States, it would speak incredibly to other nations. We are supposed to be "the land of the free" and if we were to impose such strong anti-abortion laws, let alone a constitutional amendment making it hardcore illegal, that would create great talk and change around the world. Also, this article reiterates the importance of choosing a national leader; such as the president. In reading articles weekly, it allows people to stay informed of political changes, as well as human rights changes such as abortion laws. I do not think that in my lifetime a "personhood amendment" would ever take place, however, I do feel that more and more local and state governments are pushing (and suceeding) to make abortion laws more stringent on the basis of life begins at conception. However, if this ever becomes a national law that bans abortion, the United States citizens will suffer, as will the world. Not only will botched abortions happen, but more welfare money will be needed to support all of the people who could not afford children. Also, women who are raped or are victims of incest will have no choice but to deal with the situation of pregnancy.

http://www.talkradionews.com/news/2011/11/4/new-ad-challenges-romneys-abortion-stance.html

Blog 9; Abortion no longer being an issue?

Our Nation, as well as other nations, are divided by political houses. In these political houses/parties, one of the main issues is pro-life or pro-choice. The article does a great job in explaining how once our country was divided on the issue of alcohol consumption and its prohibition. There were many people completely against the use of alcohol because of the negative affects it brought upon the individual, the family, and the country as a whole. The fight for prohibition was a long one, but succeeded. After alcohol being made illegal, the want for it grew as well as crime. Surprisingly to some, many former proponents for prohibition wanted to repeal it because the world was better with it than it being illegal. Since prohibitions repeal, the issue of alcohol is not a huge one as it once was that split the country at times. Also, the rates of alcohol consumption has dropped.

The article then goes on to compare alcohol prohibition and abortion rights/laws. It may be in women's/the country's best interest for abortion to be illegal for a bit of time. Once made illegal, people who are drastically against it can see the "positive" affects abortion brought and want to turn it into being legal again. This would be a harsh way to "fix" the pro-choice/pro-life issue, but has been seen to work in our nation's history. After being legal again, there would not be as many hardcore people opposing or in favor.

If this would ever happen, it could be revolutionary as far as politics and personal rights go throughout the world. By using sudo-reversephysocology, the world could potentially become a place where people want to educate and protect their women and families and do not have to bring politics into such issues. Also, with this idea, the world could become a place where people voted for someones abilities to run a state or country; not on their personal views of abortion, etc.

Blog 8; Possible Bill to affect women

House Republicans are pushing to get a new bill passed, Protect Life Act. Currently, there is federal funds to hospitals to give emergency care. This emergency care includes abortions to women who are in life threatening situations. Protect Life Act states that hospitals could/would refuse abortions to women even if their lives were in danger with claims of religious and moral wrongness. The article states that over 15 percent of the United State's hospital beds reside in Catholic hospitals. This poses a great problem for women in need of emergency abortion care who only have access to religious affiliated hospitals. Another bill is being proposed, the Pitts Bill. The Pitts bill would rid all insurance coverage of abortions in the new health care reform. An addition to riding women of coverage, the bill also would allow states to override the health reform that makes preventative medicines free (or just without a co-pay). This makes good, free access to birth control at risk. The article also states that these bills have little chance of surviving right now because of the Democratic majority as well as President Obama being a Democrat.


Although the bill has small chances of being approved, that is only for the time being. We always call for separation of Church and State but our law makers are bringing in their own personal beliefs and convictions into politics. It seems to me that pro-life politicians would push for free preventative medicines (birth control) so that abortions would in essence decrease because of a nation having more access to birth control. Furthermore, politicians creating bills that would affect a woman's chance to live is scary. Some may ask when would an abortion be necessary so that the woman could live. A woman could be in an accident and be hemorrhaging and need to undergo surgery or have an abortion to save eternal damage. I think that the hardcore people and politicians never put into account how difficult decisions of abortion are and feel that women carelessly and easily make decisions to procure them. If people continue to harshly influence and restrict health care for women, this country is not as democratic as we feel it is or should be. For that matter, men are not being targeted in the health care reform nearly as great as women. I am far from feminist, however bills like the Pro Life Act and Pitts Bill show just how the important people of our country think of the women here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/opinion/playing-politics-with-womens-lives.html

Blog 6; North Carolina Laws Abridging Womens Rights

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/aclu-challeges-new-nc-abortion-law-in-court.html

A law set to go into effect October 26, 2011 in North Carolina is making big headlines all over the US. This law will require state sponsored abortion clinics to put ultrasound pictures in a woman’s view and describe the embryo or fetus in detail. Also, women have to be pushed to listen to the heartbeat. In addition to viewing the ultrasound, women are forced to wait 24 hours before receiving the actual abortion. The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups are pushing for this law to be found unconstitutional and revoked. The lawsuit against the State says that the law infringes upon women’s “rights to "due process, free speech, privacy, liberty, bodily integrity and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures." The lawsuit also says that women’s bodies will be used to mandate state government speech.

If this lawsuit fails and the state of North Carolina denies women constitutional rights, this will be another huge setback for women’s rights in the United States and eventually the world. If North Carolina keeps this law, it will be one of about 20 states in the US that have strict laws regarding the abortion process. Also, it will be the third state to require an ultrasound image to be within the line of site of the woman. As more states create laws such as this, it shows other states and even nations that it is possible to create strict laws, and also that people will not stand up against it. Women all over the world are faced with difficult situations sometimes regarding pregnancies and should not have to jump through government hoops to go through an already difficult process. The last statement of the article was from a North Carolina Republican who stated that the law would keep abortions legal but it will help to keep abortions more “rare”. He also stated that it is still a woman’s choice with this law. However, this is not true completely. It is still a woman’s choice, but harder and a less personal process and decision.

Blog 5; Migrant Women in China to Receive More Contraceptive Education

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-09/26/content_13789167.htm

This article addresses abortions that are occurring in migrant women in China. In 2008, there were about 50,000 abortions in mainland China and out of those, 70 percent were migrant women. This issue is mostly by poor information on contraceptives. This issue was also brought to more light because of World Contraceptive Day, September 26. The article states that talking about sex and sex education is not common in Asian societies. This faltering of the government and public is the main cause for misinterpreted contraception information or no information at all. China is however implementing new programs to help its citizens and migrants who do receive abortions to receive more care. This program is a German one called PAC (post-abortion care). This is vital to China because such a big percentage of its citizens and migrants are getting abortions and then needing subsequent surgeries to fix things. These subsequent surgeries are costing the state a lot of money; 470 million US dollars. The PAC program makes sure women receive care from trained nurses to monitor their health after procuring an abortion. This program hopes to not only improve the health of women who get abortions but to also stop recurrent abortions in the same women.

This has been identified as a social problem in China and the government is on their way to implementing ways to fix it. However, it became a problem because Chinese women and migrants to the country are not informed in sex education and contraceptive forms. The article states that Chinese are shy to talk about sex. Shyness is not a sufficient excuse. Talking about contraceptives should be the number one health issue in China because of the population boom. Also, it should be the number one topic since the literal abortions are not 100 percent safe and often require subsequent surgeries.
From the video we watched in class on Japan, maybe the Chinese are similar in their feelings of immigrants. If this is the case, it would make even more sense for contraceptive knowledge and safer abortions to be in place by the government.

Blog 4;Honor Killings vs Abortion

http://womennewsnetwork.net/2011/09/16/egypt-abortions-women-violence/

This article has shocking information and insight into Egyptian culture and the Muslim faith. In Egypt, it is illegal to procure an abortion unless you have ample proof that the woman or baby is in grave danger. Consequently, women can be and are killed for becoming pregnant out of wedlock. For many Muslims and people in Egypt, these murders are named “honor killings” because the woman pregnant (or many other things) has shamed the family and when the men of the family kill her, they regain their previous status. When a woman has been the victim of honor killings, the perpetrators receive a judicial slap on the wrist for their actions. However, when a woman receives a chosen abortion, she can receive six months to three years in prison. Many Muslims state that abortions go against Allah’s will and many religious figures are also political leaders.
In America, two percent of women 15-54 have abortions, in Egypt it is about 14 percent. Since chosen abortions are illegal and can have immense consequences, women in Egypt who do decide on abortions are at risk for infection and even death due to complications from unsanitary abortions or because they are performed by unqualified people.
Since the Egyptian government is in dishevels now and facing new leaders in 2012, women are pushing for more rights and that they are specified in their constitution.

The issue of religious leaders affecting political sectors is detrimental to lives, and especially womens’ lives in Egypt. Whether they are victims of honor killings, or are imprisoned for having an illegal abortion. Islam is the prevailing religion in Egypt and therefore its’ ideologies rub off into everyday life and culture. This creates insane issues because those political leaders who are also big proponents of Islam interpret laws in accordance to the Qur’an’s scriptures. Abortion is seen as interfering with Allah’s will, and this is the law of the land for the most part. Having a separation of church and state is ideal and necessary for issues like this.
Problems with sanitation once a woman decides to obtain an illegal abortion are horrific too. Since they are done illegally, the codes and sanitation are not the most important issue to the woman or the doctor who is making money. Women are faced with the option to possibly die of an honor killing or to possibly get sick, be injured, or die from an abortion. This would be a horrendous and traumatic thing to have to face when you know you have no political stance in your country.
If the Egypt and the world allows abortions to continue to be illegal, many more women will die because of being pregnant and die because of unsafe abortions. Although the Islamic faith is vital to the Egyptians culture, the interpreted values are becoming detrimental to Egyptian women.

Blog 3; Sex Selection Through Abortions in India

The ratio between boys and girls in India is skewed more than normal. This is due to abortions based on the sex of the fetus. A tyicall ratio of boys and girls is 105 males to 100 females, however in India in the 2011 census, it is 109 males to 100 females. This is seemingly not a drastic number, but there are 7 million less girls than boys under the age of seven. Although this sex selective abortions have always been known to happen in India, there is a recent boom due to more literacy and more financial stability among families. The article gave the story of a family as an example. The family had three girls and were very content, however the third pregnancy ended with with abortion as did four more, simply because the fetuses were female. This is now a common occurrence in India.
There are a few reasons that Indian families have a big want for sons. The biggest is because sons stay with the family and daughters move away. Sons are expected to take care of parents in their elderly years, filel piety is the term for this. Another reason for sons is that a female's family is expected to pay for the wedding and sometimes even a dowry. The story in the article stated that his first daughter's wedding cost to $9,000 (equivalent to 20 months of his pay).
The government knows that there is a serious issue in their country and has tried to address it. Sex selective abortions are illegal (as well as telling the sex of the fetus) and abortions after 12 weeks are illegal. However, sex cannot be shown until 14 weeks and many doctors promote their practice with making sex selective abortions. The doctors doing this are committing medical crime and allow abortions at any time and under any circumstance
The government plans to take more drastic steps in reducing sex selective abortions. They plan to give incentives to families with girls, create a social security fund, as well as cracking down on medical practices.

This is a serious issue that has reached global attention, especially for women's rights advocates. Although many are pro-choice, it is becoming a devastating problem to India. Without enough women in the country, mail order brides are being brought into the country. This causes the first global issue. Women are taken (sometimes by force) to India and put into a new, strange "habitat". Statistically, women are not treated very well in marriages. There are high rates of abuse and even mortality during pregnancy. If the Indian government continues to allow sex selective abortions by not cracking down on the medical practitioners in their country, the entire female race will continue to decline. Also, neighboring countries with similar views of filel piety will perhaps begin sex selective abortions and their ratio of female to male will also decline. This is not a simple issue of pro-choice or pro-life; it is a complex gender discrimination that has potential to affect the entire world.
The potential females of India are not the only ones at risk, but also Indian women. It was not mentioned in the article, but a woman who has numerous abortions will decrease her fertility as well as danger her health. Also, stress on a woman to have a boy is psychologically pressing. Pregnancy, that is created on purpose, should be a joyous time for a woman. However, women in India are put in stressful situations relating the sex of their unborn child. It is now questioned if couples are getting rid of girls for a chance at a boy, or getting rid of girls simply because they are girls.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/india/110914/shiva-rules-sex-selection-gender-discrimination-abortion?page=0,1

Blog 2; Obama can affect women worldwide on abortion policy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/opinion/humanitarian-aid-for-rape-victims.html?_r=1&ref=abortion

Once again, the US is making global news and trying to assist other countries. This time, the US is speaking out and making laws about worldwide abortion issues. Obama had previously lifted the “global gag rule” that Bush put in place, which said that no federal aid would be given to family planning groups that provided abortions or even counseling about abortions. Although Obama lifted this law, he left a similar policy in place based off of the Helms amendment. This policy left in place stopped aid to countries for abortions. It is almost the same as the law he lifted, but a policy. Therefore, many people are pushing Obama to lift this policy when rape victims are concerned. The Helms amendment violates the “Geneva Conventions, which entitles all victims of armed conflict — including those brutalized by rape — to complete and non-discriminatory medical treatment.” Medical treatment includes abortions if necessary or wanted.

Abortion has always been a huge issue and if this policy gets lifted, it will impact the world greatly. Lifting of one policy by Obama will trickle down and help women in small villages. If this policy is not lifted and aid is not given to overseas clinics, illegal and abortions not performed by doctors will continue to happen. Abortions in small villages in Africa not done by doctors could have great impacts such as extreme illness and death. One small power Obama has could affect thousands of women in the world for the better quality of their health.

Blog 1; Texas Judge Rules Against Abortion Law

Federal Judge Sam Sparks made an important decision for women in Texas this week. A new law requiring women to view a sonogram before having an abortion was going to go into effect next week. The Center for Reproductive Rights took this new coming law to Texas’s Federal court. Sparks overturned the new law, stating that forcing a woman to view a picture of her pre-aborted child as well as listing to the heart beat was an infringement of a woman’s First Amendment. This new law also stated that to get out of viewing the sonogram, women could sign a statement saying they were raped, or a victim of incest. This was also a huge reason the law was over passed because Sparks stated that it could not be up to the state to force women to disclose such personal information.

Abortion is always a hot topic, because you never really find a society who sees a grey area to the topic. This is a great ruling for women of Texas who are choosing to have an abortion, and to those who are open to the issue. The state was trying to manipulate an already high driven emotional experience by forcing them to see their planned aborted fetus. This is a great example of how a group of people felt so strongly about something that they wanted to go against a law. It is also a great example of how a group of people got a law passed. It is clear that this law started with people who were anti-abortion, and it ended with a group of people who were pro-choice fighting for women’s rights. Also, it is a wonderful example of a person in power over a society, using his power in right ways in accordance with the Constitution. Although abortion is a tough topic for most societies, this case shows all sides.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/us/31brfs-JUDGEHALTSAN_BRF.html?_r=1&ref=abortion