Peter Schmitt's Argument Against Abortion
"I have pro-abortion people calling concerned that pro-life people are being funded, and pro-life people calling concerned that pro-abortion people are being funded. You can’t be on both sides of the issue,” said Nassau County Legislator Peter Schmitt in a recent New York Times article, adding, “Leadership is not pandering on both sides of a contentious issue.”
Schmitt was referring to a proposal made by County Executive Tom Suozzi to use tax dollars to reduce the number of abortions in Nassau County over the next three years. The money would go to adoption services, housing services for single pregnant women, sex education and the like. As an adopted child instead of an aborted one, I agree with Schmitt -- a leader can¹t be on both sides of an issue simultaneously. But not everything is black and white when it comes to something as important …show more content…
I’m pro-abortion”? No, and that’s the common ground, the gray area.
Put most simply, pro-life is about preserving lives and pro-choice is about the right to choose. But if you put aside their huge agendas, the two sides share the desire for women to be educated. So here’s a quick education:
The Centers for Disease Control report that the number of abortions in the U.S. has decreased. In 1996, the CDC recorded 1,221,585 abortions. In 2000 that number dropped to 857,475, and a year later it decreased further, to 853,485.
In 1995, 1.6 million people looked into adoption, according to the National Survey of Family Growth. That’s more than one parent for every aborted child.
Adoption agencies and social workers exist to help make birth parents and adoptive parents comfortable with the placing of children. They actually want the best arrangement for all involved. There are a number of arrangements that can be made in which both biological and adoptive parents can walk away satisfied with their respective
Schmitt was referring to a proposal made by County Executive Tom Suozzi to use tax dollars to reduce the number of abortions in Nassau County over the next three years. The money would go to adoption services, housing services for single pregnant women, sex education and the like. As an adopted child instead of an aborted one, I agree with Schmitt -- a leader can¹t be on both sides of an issue simultaneously. But not everything is black and white when it comes to something as important …show more content…
I’m pro-abortion”? No, and that’s the common ground, the gray area.
Put most simply, pro-life is about preserving lives and pro-choice is about the right to choose. But if you put aside their huge agendas, the two sides share the desire for women to be educated. So here’s a quick education:
The Centers for Disease Control report that the number of abortions in the U.S. has decreased. In 1996, the CDC recorded 1,221,585 abortions. In 2000 that number dropped to 857,475, and a year later it decreased further, to 853,485.
In 1995, 1.6 million people looked into adoption, according to the National Survey of Family Growth. That’s more than one parent for every aborted child.
Adoption agencies and social workers exist to help make birth parents and adoptive parents comfortable with the placing of children. They actually want the best arrangement for all involved. There are a number of arrangements that can be made in which both biological and adoptive parents can walk away satisfied with their respective