Fathers Play a Key Role in Abortion? Obvious, But Now Demonstrated
Part One of Two

By Dave Andrusko

Editor's note. Be sure to post these TN&V on your social networking pages by going to www.nrlc.org/News_and_views/Mar09/nv032009.html and clicking on the "Share" button. Part Two talks about a pro-life rally in West Virginia.

Whether you work on the frontlines or serve as support staff, whether you are fully immersed or just jumping in, anyone who plays a part in the battle to save the unborn knows how difficult it is to help the ordinary citizen appreciate that there are dynamics that are crucial to understanding why a pregnant woman "chooses" to abort or carries her baby to term.

There are many different reasons why most people miss altogether how complicated and layered the decision to abort actually is. Near the top of the explanation chart is that the decision whether or not to abort has been reduced to a woman's "right" to make unilaterally. Why complicate what is, after all, the simple exercise of something given to women by the Supreme Court?

Well, for starters, because that child has a father. Often times he or she has siblings. There is an extended family--grandparents and aunts and uncles, for example--to take into consideration. And, as we have talked about many times, frequently it is a cruel hoax to pretend that a woman freely chooses to take her child's life. A rich, complex story is flattened into a deeply misleading stereotype.

But besides what we don't know, there's also what we think we know that is incorrect. An article in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction helps the reader to unlearn some misinformation.

Prof. Priscilla Coleman is the lead author of "The Choice to Abort Among Mothers Living Under Ecologically Deprived Conditions: Predictors and Consequences." NRLC President Dr. Wanda Franz wrote about the study last January (www.nrlc.org/news_and_views/Jan09/nv011509.html).

I'm revisiting the study because a synopsis appears in the Research Bulletin of the Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Change. It carries a different title which gets to the nub of the results: "Mothers Living in Poverty: How Uninvolved and Unreliable Men in Their Lives May Drive Them to Abortion, and how Abortion Increases Risk for Adverse Outcomes."

Why was the study needed? "The literature devoted to identifying the reasons women decide to abort a pregnancy has unfortunately neglected to consider women's expectations regarding paternal involvement (material and psychological) in childcare. Such expectations are likely to play a vital role in abortion decision-making, particularly when the woman is not married to the father and may be unsure of his commitment to the relationship."

Data was derived from the Fragile Families and Well-Being Study. The sample was drawn from hospitals in 16 cities around the country which had high numbers of women who were unmarried at the time they gave birth.

The final sample consisted of families with one child. The mothers then either aborted or gave birth to a subsequent child. What did Coleman et al. find?

Sure enough, the father's involvement was crucial. If the mother felt her "first child's father hadn't assumed enough paternal responsibility and/or lacked the ability to contribute to their efforts to raise the child," she was "reluctant to bear another child."

It seemed to boil down to trust. If she perceived that the father was unwilling or unable to be trusted to "watch the child for a week," or "watch the child when the mother needs to do things," she was much more likely to abort the second child.

"What is especially interesting" as Dr. Franz pointed out in her review, "are the variables that did not appear to influence the choice of abortion vs. delivery. For example, the difficulty of raising the first child, based on poor temperament of the child or the need for frequent medical intervention, did not affect the choice to abort. In addition, financial considerations were not important in the decision. Employment and income did not predict the decision to abort."

If the couple is married, it was more likely the second child would not be aborted. Also important is that "women who have recently undergone an abortion are more prone to substance abuse than women who have recently delivered a child, possibly due to negative emotions incurred from the abortion."

This is actually part of a broader conclusion found in many peer-reviewed articles--that compared with women who have not aborted, women who have "are more inclined to experience a wide range of negative emotions."

Dr. Franz did an admirable job of summarizing the conclusion. "The results of this study are counter to the prevailing opinion that women abort because of poverty and financial considerations. Instead, these mothers were more apt to make the decision based on whether or not they would be supported in their role as a mother by a father who had already demonstrated an ability to care for one of his children."

To order a copy of this issue, a list of back issues of the Association for Interdisciplinary Research In Values and Social Change, and/or a membership form, please contact Marie Hagan at mghagan@nrlc.org.

If you have comments, please send them to daveandrusko@gmail.com. Thank you!

Part Two -- Pro-Lifers Gather in West Virginia to Rally Support for Bill

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