The following comes from a June 13 op-ed piece in the Denver Post by Krista Kafer.
The young woman drew a sharp breath and her eyes grew wide. The boyfriend, no longer silent and detached, murmured, “Oh, wow,” at the tiny heartbeat blinking rhythmically on the black and white monitor.
In the dim glow of the ultrasound machine, I saw uncertainty give way to wonder.
When we met up again, the young woman told me she was having a girl. There were still many challenges ahead, but wonder had blossomed into joy. That grainy yet luminous silhouette had softened the hearts of two scared college students and enabled them to choose life for the child they had conceived together.
The ultrasound image, posted to Facebook, hung on refrigerator doors and taped to scrapbooks, has changed hearts and minds. Obstetrician Ian Donald, one of the pioneers of the clinical ultrasound back in the 1950s, understood the implications of his invention: The ultrasound humanizes the hidden form of the unborn child. Donald rejoiced in how the images forged an emotional connection between a mother and the child within her.
Now ubiquitous, this technology has no doubt contributed to the societal shift underway regarding abortion in the United States.
While the number and rate of abortions have been falling for more than three decades, recent decreases in abortion rates were so significant as to grab headlines last week. An Associated Press survey reported that the U.S. has experienced a 12 percent decrease since 2010. In Colorado, the abortion rate fell 9 percent.
Rates dropped in states with strong protections for women and children as well as in states with liberal abortion laws. Hawaii (30 percent), New Mexico (24), Nevada (22), Rhode Island (22) and Connecticut (21) experienced the greatest decreases. Rates fell in all but two states for which data are available.
The AP survey results are good news for unborn children and their advocates and for pro-choice Americans who want abortion to be safe, legal and rare. Although the abortion rate still tops 1 million a year, it is declining and will likely continue to do so.
Abortion advocates and opponents offer different reasons for the decline in the procedures, which are less frequent now than when abortion was legalized in 1973. Advocates contend that the increased usage of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and contraceptive implants, is responsible. Opponents point to state laws protecting women and unborn children. Neither of these reasons, however, fully explains the decline.
Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion and birth control provider, has witnessed a 91 percent increase in LARC usage since 2009. The long-term decline in the abortion rate, however, precedes the recent uptick in LARC usage, which accounts for about 10 percent of all birth control use.
In Colorado, where a privately funded program provides free or low-cost LARC to low-income teens, the abortion rate for teens declined in counties where the program was available and where it was not available by similar percentages. Nationwide, teen pregnancy and abortion have been in decline since the late 1980s.
Also, birth control has been widely available for some time. Condoms, diaphragms and IUDs became available in the 19th century. The pill and a greatly improved IUD debuted in the 1960s. Birth control pills are inexpensive and likely to become moreso if they become available over-the-counter. Suffice it to say, widespread birth control options cannot explain the decline in abortion.
…. Interestingly, millennials are more prolife than their parents’ generation. They are more pro-life than their youthful counterparts in 1973 and in the early ’90s when approval for abortion peaked.
Millennials grew up seeing ultrasound pictures of their siblings. Their friends have posted their children’s first photo via ultrasound to announce the news on Facebook. They’ve seen photos of unborn children and animals. They’ve seen documentaries about fetal development and surgery. They know about fetal pain and have seen premature babies survive at increasingly younger ages….
“Endowment for Human Development”
https://www.ehd.org/movies.php?mov_id=44
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You don’t have to be Catholic or even religious to know that the ultrasound clearly shows the presence of a small human being inside the woman.
Dr Bernard Nathanson, one of the two founders of the abortion mill concept, changed his mind about killing unborn babies when he saw ultrasounds.
Unfortunately, while the ultrasound may stop some mothers, it will not stop most abortionists because they know the humanity of the baby but have a death wish that is profoundly coldblooded.
It is incredible that the Denver Post, an ultra liberal newspaper, actually ran this piece from s Krista Kafer of the Heritage Foundation.
I think there may be several reasons for the decline in abortions. For one thing, there are far fewer young people now, than in earlier decades– because of abortion and birth control, sadly! For another thing, the young people today are educated about sex and birth control– very sad! No innocence! And no chastity! Also, birth control is sadly cheap– which encourages pre-marital sex! Also, there is more pro-life education, and more options available, for those mothers having babies out-of-wedlock– which society now accepts everywhere. Well– BRAVO for the “Denver Post!” They should publish this in the “San Francisco Chronicle!”
Don’t forget the abortion pill – the morning after pills called “Plan B” and “ella” which are available at all pharmacies.
Sexually transmitted disease is not lower either.
Ultrasounds do not lie. Abortion is the torture and murder of an innocent human being for the convenience of another.