Abortion

In Bryan Cones' article on US Catholic he questions how the Catholic Church must respond to the rates of abortion in developing countries. He refers to the following statistics from a World Health Organization study: rates of "unsafe" abortions in Africa is 97%, in Latin America is 95%, in Asia is 40%, and in Oceania is 14%. He also says, referring to the 2008 numbers, that 86% of abortions occurred in the developing world, while in the developed world the numbers dropped from 36% to 26%. Yes, one of the differences between developed and developing countries is access to modern contraception, but I don't believe that this fact is the main reason for "unsafe" abortions. Rather, it is believable that the rate of "unsafe" abortions would be higher in places that do not necessarily have access to the highest medical advancements or necessities for abortions. In the US, women have abortions for different reasons, some of which may be the same as women in other countries. Some of these reasons are as follows: women are not financially or emotionally able to support a child, a child is a result of sexual assault, women simply don't want any children, or the child will have some kind of defect or disease, etc. Abortions are legal in the US, so therefore they are usually safer; sometimes, if done in the third trimester or done in an unsanitary or unsafe way, abortions can cause severe complications or death. Abortions can be direct or indirect, but indirect ones are the only ones seen as acceptable in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Women in US, if trying to prevent pregnancy, will either use a form contraception or use Natural Family Planning (NFP).

The author of the article only gives one alternative to decrease the abortion rate of women in developing countries, which is giving them access to modern methods of contraception. This may be a way to decrease the rate of abortions, but there are other ways as well. Another potential solution to solve this problem would be to educate women in developing countries about pregnancy in general. Education on how their body works and ways in which they can naturally avoid pregnancy, such as NFP, would give women a chance to understand that there are other ways besides abortion. Also, information could be given to women about adoption and alternative ways to give up a baby, instead of aborting the baby. Lastly, developing countries could try to provide an environment where women can feel like they have a choice in matters of importance, so they don't feel trapped or pressured. Overall, there are ways in which developing countries can decrease the abortion rate.