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effects_of_abortion_on_the_u.s._population [2015/12/11 14:58] marri [Effects of Abortion on the U.S. Population] |
effects_of_abortion_on_the_u.s._population [2022/03/23 16:14] (current) |
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+ | ==========Effects of Abortion on the U.S. Population========== | ||
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+ | In 1973, the Supreme Court addressed the issue of abortion in two cases, //Roe v. Wade// and //Doe v. Bolton//. The Court’s holding in //Roe// and //Doe// had the effect of legalizing abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy.((// | ||
+ | \\ See Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973) and 410 U.S. 179 (1973).)) Prior to the federal legalization of abortion, states had the authority to independently determine abortion’s legality. Although states could still impose restrictions in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, 1973 marked the year in which all states were required to legalize abortion. | ||
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+ | Roughly 53 million abortions were reported between 1973 and 2011.((Rachel K. Jones and Jenna Jerman, “Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2011,” // | ||
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+ | Legalizing abortion massively changes sexual behaviors outside of marriage. The consequent sexual revolution increases conception out-of-wedlock and increases the rate of venereal diseases. In a country of a few million births per a year, these increases themselves approach the millions. The additional disease transmission vector comes with a cost around $300 million annually, paid collectively by individuals and through taxes.((Jonathan Klick and Thomas Stratmann, “The Effect of Abortion Legalization on Sexual Behavior: Evidence from Sexually Transmitted Diseases, | ||
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+ | =====1. Legalizing Abortion Changes Sexual Behavior===== | ||
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+ | Abortion affects sexual activity. Whereas previously the expected consequence of sexual activity--conception and birth--previously discouraged sexual behavior (particularly outside of marriage), the legalization of abortion removed the consequence of childrearing and therefore increased sexual activity.((Elizabeth Oltmans Ananat, Jonathan Gruber, Phillip B. Levine, and Douglas Staiger, “Abortion and Selection, | ||
+ | \\ Note, too, these correspond with assertions on abortion popularized in Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, // | ||
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+ | According to the Center for Disease Control, 15 percent of children aborted were children of married mothers((U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Abortion Surveillance—United States, 2009, by Kim D. Burley et al. Surveillance Summaries, 61, no. 8. Table 17, “Reported abortions, by known marital status and reporting area of occurrence—selected states, United States, 2009” Available at [[http:// | ||
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+ | //At most//, all 15 percent of abortions by married mothers are conceptions that would not have occurred had abortion not been legalized. Similarly, the abortion rate before legalization was roughly 10 percent of what it became after legalization.((The number of illegal abortions may be estimated by a method pioneered in Philip Levine, //Sex and Consequences: | ||
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+ | Legalizing abortion increases sexual behavior outside of wedlock. Around 600,000 children—40 percent of 1.5 million abortions, and around 15 percent of the //total// number of births (4 million)—are now destroyed annually on account of being conceived out of wedlock because abortion was legalized. This is a massive social and ecological effect abortion has on sexual behavior. Legalizing abortion creates a massive amount of new out-of-wedlock conceptions that will then be destroyed. | ||
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+ | =====2. Effects of Abortion on the Birthrate===== | ||
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+ | The effect of abortion on birthrate is not simply the raw number of reported abortions; rather, abortions reflect both births that would have otherwise taken place, and children that were only conceived because of how abortion changes society. The total number of abortions minus the number of children that would not have been conceived absent the legalization of abortion better indicates the effect of legalized abortion on the birthrate. | ||
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+ | Since abortion has resulted in increased sexual intercourse, | ||
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+ | Prior to the ruling in //Roe v. Wade//, states individually determined the legality of abortion. This phenomenon of these states individually legalizing abortion (at different times) creates a natural experiment. This experiment shows that the greater the distance from the closest early legalizing abortion state, the less likely a woman is to abort her child. This natural experiment then shows that legalizing states experience a 10 percent decline in birthrate compared to non-legalizing states far away. Early legalizing states demonstrate the direct effect of abortion on birthrate. Non-legalizing states far away serve as a kind of control group for abortion’s impact on birthrate.((This is done in Philip Levine, //Sex and Consequences: | ||
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+ | From the 1970s through the 2000s the number of live births averaged approximately four million per year. While over this period the U.S. population has increased, the fertility rate (birthrate) in the U.S. has decreased per (fertile) adult. An increase in the U.S. population has compensated for the per adult decrease in fertility. The “natural experiment” among the states shows that abortion causally reduces births by around 10 percent.((Philip Levine, //Sex and Consequences: | ||
+ | Albeit likely, this number is somewhat higher than another figure used in the literature (somewhat above 6 percent). See [[http:// | ||
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+ | =====3. Economic Impact of Abortion===== | ||
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+ | Eliminating a population through abortion destroys a population that will work and pay taxes. Legalizing abortion imposes a loss of between $70 billion and $135 billion of economic activity (valued work), | ||
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+ | This entry draws heavily from [[http:// | ||