Abortion: An new idea

 

Abortion

This has gotten way out of hand. The most powerful person in the world is elected almost solely based upon this one issue. 

We need a new idea. And at Grown Up Governing we have one. Please read on.

We should not be electing presidents almost solely dependent on whether they intend to repeal Roe v. Wade. That has been the conservative strategy for decades.  To populate every vacancy on the Supreme Court with decidedly anti-abortion judges. Please stop.  It’s only going to create more criminals.  We believe people who wish to get an abortion will always be able to get an abortion in spite of its legality. Are you really prepared to charge someone for murder over this? 

Americans rely far too much on legislation.  We have to consider realities and human behavior.  It is time to stop letting this issue be the final litmus test for voters.  Read on and I hope you like our plan. 

Fortunate to be an adoptive parent and a Foster parent, I learned something surprising the day I flew across the country to meet my first adoptive child. It may not be common knowledge that, when you adopt a child in the US, you are awarded a $12,000 federal tax credit. Not a deduction, a credit. And in many states, you get an additional state tax incentive as well.

My wife and I did not know about these misplaced financial incentives. It still seems completely backwards to us.  We just wanted to start a family but couldn't due to medical reasons. We were cheerfully paying thousands to adopt a child and honestly, we could afford it. Our motivation was nowhere near financial.  We wanted to be parents.  The tax credit came as a complete surprise. 

We strongly believe the financial incentive is directed at the wrong group. Those funds should go to the biological mother the moment she gives her baby up for adoption. Consider her situation.  She has an unwanted pregnancy and only three choices of what to do about it. 1.) Keep and raise the baby herself when statistically speaking she is unmarried and already living below the middle class, 2.) giving her baby up for adoption, or, 3.) aborting her baby.



Which of those choices are best? Best for her and best for the baby? And best for some loving adoptive family out there that, for whatever reason, is unable to have children themselves. The wait for families to adopt a child in the U.S. is two to seven years.  Imagine how this plan could impact that depressing number!  And imagine how many more families would adopt if this number could be reduced.  Imagine how many unborn babies could be saved from abortion!

Adoption is clearly the best of those choices. Let’s help these biological mothers make the right choice. Consider what they are going through.  Even if we do not do this to save the lives of unborn babies, or to help families who cannot have babies, can we please just do it for this biological mom? Can we do it for this young girl that made a mistake that has touched her life forever? She gave in to a moment of biological passion. She did not commit a crime. And let’s face it, there but for the grace of God, go any of us.  If you have not been personally touched in your own family, you might know someone who has. 


How many unborn children might be saved if the biological mother had a $12,000 incentive to give her baby up for adoption into a loving home that is childless? Who really needs that money more? Statistics show that adoptive parents are upper middle class and higher. After all, it’s an expensive proposition, adopting a child. Statistics also reveal that unwanted pregnancies occur in the lower income portions of our society. Often in poverty-stricken groups. Please share this idea as we work to get a more compassionate and rational idea off the ground.

Grown Up Governing 


Comments

  1. Iron Chef Kosher!May 17, 2021 at 10:27 AM

    The on thing you are ignoring is the over-abundance of older children in the adoption system that need to be adopted. Creating more babies just cuts down on those children's chances to lead a normal life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Grown Up GoverningJune 13, 2021 at 4:30 PM

      Iron Chef, thank you for engaging. Allow me to say that I care deeply about the older children that need homes. Being a foster parent myself I'm aware of them. This plan is specifically directed toward saving the lives of unborn children. And to be sure, the plan does not 'create' more babies as you assert. Rather, it saves babies from abortion. Perhaps you believe saving babies from abortion will add so many babies to the supply that older children will be passed over. I must confess that may be true (at the outset). But does that make abortion a more favorable solution that adoption? To that I must say no. This is a plan that would have immediate benefits to the unborn with just a minor technical tweak. I'm afraid there is no such quick fix for the older children. For them we need societal level changes that would impact poverty and education. Changes that would impact the trajectory of potential future children who might end up in the same situation.

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