Adolescent Fertility Rate: Argentina, 2015-2021
Source: CEDEs Annual 2022 Report. The Paths of the Argentine Experience
with Legal Abortion, June 2023.
Disclaimer: The views, and claims, expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of Duravision Inc, Dominica News Online, or any of its subsidiary brands.
Those good people who oppose our constitutional challenge to the abortion law, claim that “If you make abortion legal, you will encourage licentious sexual activity, especially among the young. That is so obvious. There will be no restraint.”
This is the loud, probably sincere, but false claim. It is popular, but it is fictional and fueled by fear.
The facts of legalization in Barbados and Guyana prove otherwise. The number of abortions at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) fell by 53% in just 10 years after abortion was legalized in 1983. The drop among teenagers was even higher at 58.9%.
Similarly, in Guyana, the abortion rate is 20% lower than it was before abortion was legalized in 1995.
And now the facts from Catholic Argentina (63%) show the same story. There, the government introduced a three-layer model. They gave teenagers 16-17 full autonomy. They allowed teens 13-15 independent access providing there was no serious risk. And for those 12 and younger, they allowed access but required access, the presence of an adult chosen by the child.
In just six years with this model, the adolescent fertility rate among teens 15-19 fell from 62.6 to 27, a drop of almost 57%. That is remarkable. This is what evidence-based health policy can accomplish.
We can stick to our fear-based practice and embrace our horrible results. Of course, continuing to do what we know does not work, is what a very smart man called madness.
Or we can find the courage to try a new approach based on facts and evidence. We can replace obstacles and ignorance with access and education.
Sincerely,
ASPIRE
ASPIRE is a pro-motherhood, pro-choice, pro-life, non-governmental advocacy group registered in Dominica and five other Caribbean countries. It promotes research and dialogue with civil society and governments to advance fairness and justice in reproductive health.
Woman and man are equal as human beings, with diferent roles. Nothing else would be as appropriate and suitable to the human being and his dignity as natural motherhood. Children should be raised by their mothers in a family where the true principles of motherhood, fatherhood and comradeship of brothers and sisters prevail, and not in an institution resembling a poultry farm. The woman who rejects and abandons marriage, pregnancy, maternity, motherhood, beautification and femininity abandons and contradicts her natural role in life. There must be a world revolution which puts and end to all materialistic conditions hindering women from performing their natural role in life, and so drives them to carry out men’s duties in order to attain equal rights!
ASPIRE ? Who are you?
Why don’t you identify yourselves individually?
Why have you taken on this right-wing, so-called Christian mission – when most of you support extreme policies like those being implemented by Trump against humanitarian policies of equality & justice for all?