ON SATURDAY, Jan. 22, the nation marked the 32 anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion in the United States. As happens every year with this anniversary, protest marches were held by both sides of the issue across the country, inflammatory columns were written, names were called and as usual, no useful debate was held.
The abortion debate in America is broken. Instead of serious discussion, the abortion debate has come down to name-calling and the dramatic overuse of inflammatory emotional statements. Abortion rights supporters are now "baby killers" and abortion opponents are "woman haters."
If the two sides really cared about the ramifications and effects of their positions, they'd be working together instead of consistently attacking each other.
The fact is, both sides of the abortion debate should have a mutual desire to prevent all abortions, not necessarily through legal actions, but rather by preventing anyone from finding abortion to be a necessary route.
The pro-life side has an obvious desire to prevent all abortions, and the pro-choice side should not want women to even be in the situation where they have to make the choice. This means the two sides should be working together, not against each other, to prevent unwanted pregnancies, develop tougher rape and incest laws, help grant easier access to medicines that would prevent a woman from having to choose between her own life and that of her unborn child's, and fixing the problems found within America's current foster-care system.
Obviously, the above solutions will not be perfect. No proper sex education program will ever prevent 100 percent of unwanted pregnancies, the toughest rape and incest laws in the world will not prevent 100 percent of rape and incest cases, there will always be some kind of medical complications an expecting mother's may face, and not everyone will always want to give birth and then give a child away instead of just not giving birth at all.
However, the situation as it stands can be greatly ameliorated. Just because the solutions aren't perfect doesn't mean the two sides shouldn't work together on them.
Unwanted pregnancies can still be greatly reduced through better sexual education programs. Since a very large percentage of unwanted pregnancies are those found in teenage girls, better sex education in schools can help lead teenagers to more responsible behavior, and decrease the risk of unwanted pregnancies. Tougher penalties and better victim protections for rape and incest can still greatly decrease the incidences of the two crimes. When a woman is raped, a vast majority tend not to report the rape to the police. As a result, that sends a message to rapists out there that they can get away with it. With a more caring victim protection system, more women can be encouraged to report the crimes, and the incidences of rape and incest will likely drop afterwards.
Furthermore, better medical policies can make birthing much safer. Women without health insurance are much less likely to be able to give birth without significant risk to themselves. Underfunded hospitals are less likely to have the care necessary to protect an expecting mother.
Fixing these two problems can greatly reduce the incidences of a mother having to choose between her own life and her child's. Finally, a friendlier foster-care system can still make adoption seem a much better choice. If a mother feels her baby will go into good, safe care, she'll be much more likely to put the baby up for adoption, instead of simply aborting the pregnancy.
If the two sides worked together to meet their mutual goals -- to prevent abortion from even being considered in an overwhelming majority of cases -- we could greatly reduce the number of abortions in America.
With a greatly reduced abortion rate, the debate will become less intense, and America's political climate can become much friendlier.
The abortion debate in America today is broken. By working together, the two sides can finally start to find solutions, instead of just more ways to fight. Maybe on the 33 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we'll read the columns proudly declaring the massive drop in abortion rates, instead of the ones just insulting one side or another on the issue.
Sam Leven's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sleven@cavalierdaily.com.
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