Susan Marshall: Ways to reduce abortions

Regarding the April 24 news article “Split House approves longer abortion wait”: Why does the legislature want to compel women to listen to their doctor explain an ultrasound of a fetus and wait 72 hours before they can have an abortion but won’t listen to those same doctors explain the problems with their proposed legislation?

The sponsors say their bill would not “restrict access to abortion.” Poppycock. This is clearly their ultimate goal. They wanted to prevent medical students from learning how to perform abortions and prohibit state facilities from offering them. How is that not restricting access?

I think most people believe that abortions should be safe, legal and rare.

If legislators really want to reduce the number of abortions, here are some suggestions:

▪ Provide comprehensive sex education in schools; this has reduced teenage pregnancy rates in other states.

▪ Improve access to birth control by expanding Medicaid and creating a state exchange for more competitive rates for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

▪ Offer more support for those pregnancies and babies after they are born with decent public education, Smart Start programs and, again, better access to health care.

What not to do: Say “just don’t do it,” which appears to be their current plan to reduce abortions.

This story was originally published May 2, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Susan Marshall: Ways to reduce abortions."