I want to say upfront that no-one (well hardly anyone) believes abortions are a good thing. I think both sides of the argument would say it would be better if it never happened but this issue is not going to be solved by this blog or anyone reading it. I just want the pro-life people to think through to the future and what will happen if they are successful in their quest to have Roe v. Wade overturned. Human nature is hard to change and my guess it would be several years before the number of unwanted pregancies dropped.
According to the CDC in 2003 there were 854,122 abortions performed. Now if you remove 20% for natural miscarriages you end up with 683,297 live births.
The next number I came up with is a guesstimate. Approximately 30% of all children in the US recieve some sort of public assistance - however these abortions were unwanted pregnancies. Knowing how many parents would step up to the plate and how many would simply hand them off to someone else is difficult to know. You also have to figure in those people who would try for a few years but have their children taken away for various reasons associated with poverty - such as drugs or violence. My conservative estimate is going to be 50% will end up in the care of the state - most on public assistance, many in foster care. That brings us to 341,649 children born into the system EACH YEAR.
Now I hear you arguing already about adoption - baloney! Adopters overwhelmingly want pretty, healthy white babies. That's why one can fetch a lot of money on the black market. The breakdown of abortions show an overwhelming majority are obtained by minorities, according to the CDC approx. 13% of abortions were sought by caucasian women. But anyhow - back to the calculations.
The USDA estimated in 2007 that the cost to raise a child to the age of 18 is $204,060.
341,649 X $204,060 = $69,716,894,940.00
That's one year of births folks!
$69,716,894,940.00 divided by 117,000,000 taxpayers = $595.87
Not too bad right - except that is one year of births. Each year that number will repeat itself. Granted over the years the number SHOULD decrease as peoples habits change - at least until this new baby boom gets old enough to start having their own babies.
Let's also mention the extreme impact this would have on our hospitals and schools. That many more children entering the school system, I think a few more will need to be built - don't you? We will see some more taxes for that. The number of new Doctors entering obstetrics is dwindling because of the high cost of malpractice insurance, how long will you have to wait to get in now?
I want to make clear I am not PRO-abortion. It would be wonderful if there were never another abortion performed. But I am sick of the hipocrasy from pro-lifers! There are more than 500,000 children in foster care in our country at any given time - many of them in group homes, many being abused because the foster parents are only in it for the money. The good people who try their best are overwhelmed. Look around your home and tell me how many unwanted children you have taken in? How many sick or dying children have you comforted? You have the time to march in protest and money to spend on flyers but not to take care of the children already born and in need. If you are pro-life then put your money, your home, and your love where your mouth is! Otherwise - Shut up!
