It Isn’t Impeachable, But


Reading time – 2:45  .  .  .

Click on the graph for the report

Teen births are way down. As in: down 60% from 2007. According to a report in STAT, “.  .  .  analyses have found that recent drops in teen births can be traced back to funding for family planning programs under Title X and mandates under the Affordable Care Act that expanded access to contraception.” Kind of a forehead slapper.

The Trump administration is seeking to defund Title X and eliminate the ACA. The obvious interpretation of that is that Trump wants more babies born to teenage girls.

This is quite similar to the Trump administration attacks on funding for Planned Parenthood and the state level attacks that have made access to abortion services anywhere from difficult to impossible, as well as making it a humiliating experience for already anxious pregnant women.

The similarity is in the historical fact that wealthy women will find a way to get an abortion if they feel they need one. Poor women won’t have the resources for that, which will lead to unsanitary, unsafe procedures that put women’s health at risk, as well as lots of poor babies. Apparently, Trump only wants poor babies.

Actually, what Trump wants relative to babies born to teens and poor women isn’t quite that clear. What is that clear is that human beings are hard wired to have sex, especially in their teens and 20s. That has historical and biological consequences, with survival of the species being one of them. On the other hand, in our modern societies, needs and expectations are somewhat different than those for primitive people. Nevertheless, teens will have sex. Poor people will have sex. And one of the things that happens when people have sex is pregnancy.

Old joke:

Q. What do you call couples who practice the rhythm method of birth control?

A. Parents

And so it is when effective birth control isn’t available, which is exactly what Trump and his bible thumping followers are working to create. That isn’t impeachable, but there needs to be a penalty for closed-minded self-righteousness forced on others. Perhaps some form of shared consequences?

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NOTES:

  1. Writings quoted or linked from my posts reflect a point I want to make, at least in part. That does not mean that I endorse or agree with everything in such writings, so don’t bug me about it.
  2. Errors in fact, grammar, spelling or punctuation are all embarrassingly mine. Glad to have your corrections.
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Copyright 2024 by Jack Altschuler
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