Candidates often show themselves in their ads with their smiling spouses and children. They claim to support “family,” based on an often arbitrary and weakened definition of the word. Unfortunately, when we don’t define a family as a mother, father, and—as God wills—children, numerous problems arise.
Abortion Weakens Social Bonds
According to data from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics (see Chart 3), the percentage of out of wedlock births has skyrocketed since abortion was legalized in America. This is no coincidence in timing, according to research cited by Dr. Thomas Strahan in his essay published in Consistently Opposing Killing:
Various studies have shown a weakening of social bonds (particularly with male partners) as abortion is increasingly utilized. As women have repeat abortions, their communications with others tend to break down. … They are less likely to be happily married and tend to have more difficulty than other women in getting along with others. … Women who have repeat abortions are in less stable social situations and have relationships of shorter duration than women who seek abortions for the first time (p. 49).
It is important to note that 50% of women having abortions are having repeat procedures—making it very likely that women having abortions are going to suffer the effects Strahan refers to.
Basically, because so many women are “repeat aborters,” (and thus far more likely to experience negative effects from their abortions) politicians who want abortion to remain legal at any time in pregnancy, funded by tax-payers’ money, or available to underage girls are responsible for the destruction of families.
Abortion Increases Likelihood of Single-Mother Families
A majority of women who abort break up with their partner soon after. One study showed that “six years after their abortion, only 22% were married, and 67% remained single” (Strahan, p. 49).
This is significant because one-third (36.5%) of families headed by single mothers are in poverty, but only 6% of families with married parents are poor. As Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation writes, “Overall, single-parent families comprise one-third of all families with children… [but] 71 percent of poor families with children are headed by single parents.”
So not only does abortion destroy families, but the destruction of the family further increases the poverty rate (the topic of last week’s post).
Broken Families Create Broken Families
Studies also show that children of divorced parents are more likely to get divorced than those of married parents. Broken families create more broken families, creating a difficult cycle to break in later generations. These children are also more likely to abuse drugs, do poorly in school, suffer from depression, and attempt suicide.
Don’t Buy the Happy Family Image
Just because a politician shows a smiling family on his or her literature, it doesn’t mean he or she is in favor of protecting families. Policies of pro-abortion politicians contribute to the demise of the family. To protect the family, we must vote pro-life.
