“History shows that when women and girls have access to opportunity, societies are more just, economies are more likely to prosper, and governments are more likely to serve the needs of all their people.” - President Barack Obama
In recent years, women have made significant progress in the fight for gender equality. The number of men and women in the workforce have nearly equalized and women’s earnings constitute a growing share of family income. Women have also not only caught up with men in college attendance but younger women are now even more likely than younger men to have a college or a master’s degree. These advances in education, the workplace, as well as in political and economic power can be tied in large part to women's ability to control their own fertility. However, this progress is now in jeopardy. In recent months, there has been an unprecedented number of number of anti-abortion bills, as well as a full out attack on organizations like Planned Parenthood that provides millions of American women, including college students, with vital, basic health care services.
Planned Parenthood alone helps to prevent more than 612,000 unintended pregnancies annually, and provides nearly 1 million Pap tests and more than 830,000 breast exams each year (both critical services in detecting cancer). In addition, they provide nearly 4 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Which is why it’s nearly possible to believe that last week’s near government-shut down was due in part by Republican efforts to defund the organization.
A report released last week by The Guttmacher Institute found that 374 anti-abortion bills have been put forth this year alone, already 200 more than in 2010. Of them, 61 bills in 25 states focus on prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortions, and 20 in 10 states would make ultrasounds mandatory before the procedure could take place.
Public Opinion about Reproductive Rights
According to a poll released in February by Pew Research Center, the majority of Americans believe that abortions should be available in most cases. More than half of respondents polled (54%) say that abortions should be legal in all or most cases, compared to 42% who feel that abortions should be illegal in all or most cases. Similarly, a CBS News Poll conducted in December of 2010 found that a large majority of Americans (net 76%) believe that abortions should be available to those who want them. When asked the question “Should Abortions be generally available to those who want it, or abortion should be available but under stricter limits than it is now, or abortion should not be permitted,” 36% of respondents indicated that they believed abortions should be generally available, 40% felt they should be available with limits, only 20% of Americans responded that abortions should not be permitted at all.
Notably, there were very few differences in opinion by race and income. The December CBS News Poll found that Hispanics, Black, and Whites were almost equally as likely at 76%, 78%, and 79% respectively, to believe that abortions should be available either generally or with limits. Asian Americans were slightly more liberal, with roughly 86% supporting abortions generally or with limits. The most significant differences could be observed with regard to the census region of the respondents. Individuals residing in the North Central and Southern regions of the country had a tendency to offer more conservative responses with 19% and 21% respectively indicating they believed abortions should not be permitted. However in the West, this number drops to 14%, and in the Northeast it falls even lower to 13%.
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