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<\/a><\/p>\nI have been writing about my clients who are everyday advocates. \u00a0I believe that these passionate women change the world around them. \u00a0They are Pro-Life and Pro-Choice. \u00a0All of these women, my friends, want to reduce the number of abortions. \u00a0All of them want to help women. \u00a0So what can you go and do now to help reduce abortions, no matter which stance you take?<\/p>\n
POLICIES THAT REDUCE ABORTIONS<\/strong> 2. \u00a0Access to affordable or free contraception<\/em>. 3. \u00a0Support paid family\/maternity leave and government assistance programs. \u00a0<\/em> This site has 10 organizations that help mothers.<\/a>\u00a0 You can also support legislation that supports programs like WIC, Medicaid, EITC, SNAP (food stamps) and Pell Grants. \u00a0Without these programs, many women are unable to afford raising a baby and consider abortion.<\/p>\n 4. \u00a0Adoption Education.<\/em> 5. \u00a0<\/em>Universal Healthcare<\/em><\/a>: Studies have shown that universal healthcare programs lead to decreases in the abortion rate\u2014counter-intuitively, this remains true despite the fact that abortion services are free and accessible under universal healthcare regimes<\/a>. By ensuring that all pregnant women know that their potential children will have their health taken care of, it is possible to reduce the fear surrounding raising children, thus reduce the abortion rate. 7. \u00a0Heal the divide.<\/em> I am a woman who went to Planned Parenthood for three years when I was first married and could not afford health insurance. \u00a0I am grateful there was a place I could go and get access to good health care and contraceptive services. \u00a0I am a woman who adopted a child and am passionate about advocating for ethical adoption practices, adoptee rights and birth parent rights. \u00a0I believe that abortion, adoption and parenting are all hard and different roads and we can’t paint any with the same brush. \u00a0If we can all come together and talk about how to help each other, I think we can do amazing things. \u00a0So where am I on this issue? \u00a0I am Pro-Go-and Do!<\/p>\n I’d love to hear about what you are going and doing to help reduce abortions and support women in unintended pregnancies! \u00a0Use #progoanddo!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week I was able to attend the Women’s March-which turned out to be a global march uniting women all over the globe on human rights issues. \u00a0Their motto was “Women’s Rights are Human Rights” and people marched for so many reasons from ending sex trafficking to demanding clean air.\u2026<\/p>\n
\n1. \u00a0Comprehensive Sex Education.<\/em>
\nWe MUST provide a comprehensive sex education for girls AND boys. \u00a0When teenagers are given factual resources on sex and how to reduce unintended pregnancies and STD’s, then teen pregnancy rates drop. \u00a0In 2008, the Washington Post<\/em><\/a> reported on a University of Washington study which found that teenagers who received comprehensive sex education were 60% less likely to get pregnant than someone who received abstinence-only education. A 2007 federal report<\/a> found that\u00a0abstinence-only programs\u00a0have had “no impacts on rates of sexual abstinence,” reported ThinkProgress<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0 \u00a0You can see the correlation of having comprehensive sex ed and teen pregnancy rates by state. \u00a0 Call your local representatives and let them know you support comprehensive sex education in schools.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAccording to a recent study by the peer-reviewed medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology<\/a>, free and universal contraception can cut abortion rates by as much as 50%\u2013this cut, in and of itself, would have an incredible effect on US abortion rates, at virtually no cost to society. The decrease in costs<\/a> from taking care of unwanted pregnancies would more than make up for the cost of guaranteeing free contraception to all women. We see examples of contraception leading to low abortion rates in many countries, including the Scandinavian region where they have long implemented free contraception. \u00a0We must also educate our teens that contraception will not prevent all pregnancies or STD’s and the ONLY 100%<\/i><\/b><\/i> way to not get pregnant or get an STD is Abstinence. \u00a0If they choose to have sex, they need to be not only educated on the consequences (STD’s, pregnancy, emotional\/physical effects, etc) of sex, but also have access to contraception that can lessen their chance of getting STD’s or become pregnant. \u00a0We also must realize that it is not only teens and college women that have unintended pregnancies and are considering abortion. \u00a0 Having access to different types of contraception, like IUD’s can also reduce abortion rates. \u00a0 If you want to reduce abortion rates, you can support organizations and programs like Planned Parenthood<\/a> that offer these services free or at reduced cost to women and men. \u00a0Bedsider<\/a> also gives you information on where and how to get free birth control. \u00a0We must also support legislation that requires abortion clinics to provide truthful and accurate information on the procedures that they will be performing on these women. \u00a0Sugar coating or lying about medical procedures is never ok and patients should demand to know all of the side effects of them (ie. PTSD, PPD, depression, infertility, etc)<\/p>\n
\nWhen a woman with an unintended pregnancy decides they want to parent, we must support and offer services that allow them to do that. \u00a0We need to provide medical assistance for her and the baby, education, paid leave and other means to provide for the baby. The United States requires 0 weeks of paid leave compared to these other developed countries that provide up to 50 weeks of paid leave.
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\nThis topic is obviously close to my heart. \u00a0Many people will say, “well they can just<\/em> place their child for adoption”. \u00a0Please know that “just” choosing adoption is not an easy or right option for everyone. \u00a0While I love adoption and see the beauty and love in it, I also see the pain and trauma it can cause. \u00a0It is not an easy fix or an easy road for anyone involved. \u00a0Providing comprehensive adoption education to teens and adults considering adoption is essential. \u00a0You can support local adoption programs like the Utah Adoption Council<\/a>\u00a0or your local Foster Care Foundation<\/a>. \u00a0Advocate for ethical adoption laws and practices in your local government\/State. \u00a0Whenever you are advocating for adoption, please always think of the adoptees rights first as they are the ones that do not make this choice for themselves. \u00a0Less than 2% of women with unintended pregnancies choose adoption, so much more education on this topic is needed. \u00a0If you are an adoptee, adoptive parent, or birth parent you can volunteer at your local high school and teach a class about adoption in their Health\/Adult Roles class. \u00a0Sharing your real experiences with adoption can open their eyes to what it really is like, rather than what they have seen on tv. \u00a0We must also support these women and men who choose adoption before<\/em> and after<\/em> the adoption with programs (medical, mental health, housing, etc) if we truly support adoption as a viable option.<\/p>\n
\nWhen RomneyCare was passed in Massachusetts abortion rates went down.
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\n6. Universal Child Care & Quality Education.
\n<\/em>Abortions may happen because of the inability for women to juggle work, childcare, life and education. \u00a0If we supported universal child care, these women would have less burden on them and may be able to parent their baby. \u00a0We already have universal public education, however we are ranked 17th in math and 21st in science <\/a>among 34 OECD countries, yet we are ranked 5th in spending per student. \u00a0We need to put our money into quality teachers and demand high standards of our schools. \u00a0Finland has one of the leading education programs and we should be looking at other countries that are succeeding and model our education system after them. \u00a0You can support your local schools and advocate for quality education laws in your state by calling your local representatives.<\/p>\n
\nThis topic can get VERY heated. \u00a0There are valid reasons why it does and I am here to tell you I validate the loss that you feel. \u00a0Instead of working against each other, let’s find one or more things that we can go and do to help reduce abortions and support women before, during and after a unintended pregnancy.<\/p>\n