A study of the effects of public policy on abortion rates during the past two decades shows that providing social and economic supports for women and family contributes to a significant reduction in abortions, according to Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.<\/p>\n
The group, founded in 2005 and dedicated to \u201cpromoting awareness of the Catholic social tradition\u201d said the findings should provide common ground for both Republicans and Democrats interested in reducing the rate of abortion in the United States.<\/p>\n
The study was released Aug. 27 in Denver during a town hall meeting sponsored by Democrats for Life of America.<\/p>\n
According to the study, a recent survey of women who obtained abortions showed that nearly 75 percent \u201ccited economic hardship as a reason for obtaining an abortion; three-fourths also cited having a child as interfering with work or school, or child care responsibilities as a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Little was known, however, about \u201chow economic policies aimed at supporting low-income mothers and working families affect the abortion rate,\u201d according to the study.<\/p>\n
The study, conducted by Joseph Wright, a political science professor at Penn State University and a visiting fellow at the University of Notre Dame, and Michael Bailey, a professor of American government at Georgetown University, found that assistance to families and access to employment correlated to significantly lower rates of abortion.<\/p>\n
Alexia Kelley, executive director of Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good, said in a news release that the data could provide direction for Republican and Democratic policy makers. \u201cToo often our abortion debate has been used to score political points by both sides, rather than to identify what kinds of public policies will actually prevent and reduce abortions in America. This data shows that policy-makers on both sides of the aisle have a moral imperative to enact legislation that provides economic and social supports for vulnerable women and families in order to reduce abortions,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBeing pro-life is not just a slogan,\u201d she said. \u201cIt requires concrete programs and public policies that help women and families with robust economic and social supports. Both political parties can agree to unite behind comprehensive strategies that reduce abortions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In studying public policy in all states from 1982 to 2000, the authors found that programs not normally associated with reducing abortions had a noted effect on the rate of abortion from one state to another.<\/p>\n
For instance, the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 allowed states to impose a cap on the number of children eligible to receive economic assistance in low-income families. The study found that removing the cap did not increase fertility rates. Instead, according to the study, removing the cap \u201cwould decrease abortions by about 15 percent or 150,000 nationwide.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
There’s more at the NCR link. And you can find the complete study as a pdf file right here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study has some interesting answers. This comes from Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. And the National Catholic Reporter this week has the details: A study of the effects of public policy on abortion rates during the past two decades shows that providing social and economic supports for women and family contributes…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":204,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links-r-us","category-ripped-from-the-headlines"],"yoast_head":"\n
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Prior to that, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to \"The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,\" \"60 Minutes II,\" \"48 Hours,\" (Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award) and \"Sunday Morning.\" He was co-writer for the acclaimed documentary \"9\/11,\" hosted by Robert DeNiro. (Emmy Award, Christopher Award, Peabody Award, Writers Guild of America Award.) His radio essays were featured in the bestselling book \"Deadlines and Datelines\" by Dan Rather. He's also a two-time winner of the Catholic Press Association Award. Other places you may find him: AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY (Redemptorist Communications) and THE BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to the parish resource CONNECT!, published by Liturgical Publications. In November 2009, he began serving a three-year term as a consultant to the Communications Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Deacon Greg grew up in Maryland (Go Terps!) but he and his wife today live in the beautiful borough of Queens, New York. 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