If abortion prevents unwanted children being born, why are so many children in the social care system?

Question

My father and his first wife were a foster carers in the 1960s, before abortion was legalised. They were one of about six foster carers for a city of 250,000 people. There was 3 social workers for the whole city.

Today, after abortion has been legalised, there are about 10 times as many foster carers and social workers and more are still needed! So, where are all these unwanted children coming from?

You're not telling me all those people are pro-life?

Answer 1

some people abort the babies inside the womb.

some people "abort" the healthy- borned babies into the trash cans.

other than that, it's all population and poverty. increase

Answer 2

1. On an average, there are about 3/4 of a billion more people today than there were in the 1960's, naturally meaning there are going to be more children born.

2. There are just as many people today as there were in the 1960's who are very, very against taking the life of a child (born or not). These people would rather have the child and give it to another family who would love it than to be selfish by taking away from it's life - that's not my personal opinion/feel on the matter, but it's the way many people feel.

3. Take away abortion in the other 47 U.S states and see how many more children are packed into foster homes, shelters, and adoption clinics.

Answer 3

Abortion is offensive to many in our society and denies the father of his right to his unborn child.

Answer 4

That somebody wants or wants not an abortion doesnt necessarily mean the somone can or can not affort a baby.

Many carry the pregnancy to therm BECAUSE of the handouts jobless women with no resources get. You can eithier stay home being a mom on social security or work at McDonalds for 5 bucks an hour.

On the other hand many women are afraid to jeopperdize their well paying careers that pay so much more than a social security check. Those are the women avoiding pregnancies and lamenting "no good men are around".

Answer 5

Not all people who have an unwanted pregnancy abort. As a matter of fact, I once read a statistic that said up 2/3 of all childbirths were unplanned/surprises.

You also have to take into account that there are about twice as many people on the planet than there were in the 1960s, as well as the fact that since the 1960s, foster care in the US has become more comprehensive,  allowing for more children to be taken into the system.

And lastly, abortions rates are indeed plummeting in the US.

Answer 6

You have to figure in how many more people there are than 50 years ago. Then think of how many of those are woman of child bearing age. Abortion is not a good way of preventing unwanted pregnancy. Some good ways are abstinence, and using protection.

Answer 7

No one has claimed legalized abortion prevents ALL unwanted children being born. So whoever told you that was lying to you.

Second, in the 60's, the economy was still such that there was a strong and comfy and numerous middle class. That has been vanishing at an incrreasing rate since the Reagan years.

Third, back then, hardly anyone realized how common child abuse was -- especially child sexual abuse. People just didn't think it existed.

Fourth, back then, domenstic violence was seen as a "family problem" and the law didn't get involved. Now, it's much more likely that children are removed from violent homes.

Between all these causes, and the sheer increase in population, there are more children in foster care.

Answer 8

There are several possibilities.  These people may be chosen to put their child up for adoption and the child was not adopted.  Often times this is the case with children from minority backgrounds or physical or mental handicaps.  They may also have been removed from dangerous home situations.  I believe this is more likely the case.  There are more drugs and less accountability for parents.  There is also a much greater awareness of child abuse.  Much of this is also due to an increase in population.  Chances are there has been a population increase in this town since the 60's as there has been with many towns.

While abortion is not solving all of our problems with unwanted pregnancies, it is solving many.

Answer 9

Systems have changed, meaning that in order to care properly at the new standards for children in care, more social workers are employed and more homes.  Also, where are you getting those figures from, I think they may be wrong?

Just because abortion is legal doesn't mean people want to have it done.  Many people may not be able to keep a child but not bear the thought of having an abortion.  Also, many of the children could have been taken into care against the parents wishes, if they were doing something wrong.

Answer 10

not everyone is having abortions.Some people have several children also.It is more acceptable to have children out of marriage,children are having children and it is easier to get help for them that have no money for their children.But ,often after these children are born the newness wears off for some and sometimes they get into perdictiments that lead them to not being able to care for these children.Ect.

Answer 11

Abortion prevents some unwanted children from being born, but it doesn't prevent all unwanted children from being born.

There may be more children in foster care today than there were before abortion was legalized.  But if abortion was illegal, there might be even more children in foster care today than there already are.

If you want to know why the number of children in foster care has increased over the past few decades, that's a fair question.  But it's a separate issue from abortion.

Answer 12

I think one major difference is that children are far more likely to be removed from abusive homes than they were in the 1960s. In the past, child abuse wasn't taken nearly as seriously as it is today. It was considered to be a private family matter. The only way they could be removed was if they had been so seriously injured that they required medical care. A child who had a black eye or welts on the back wasn't considered an abused child.

Answer 13

It could be a number of things, the main one I see is that they actually wanted to have children  then later on in life the parent(s) might have gotten into drugs or something or were abusive and the children were taken away from them.

Answer 14

Good question. Abortion isn't the answer, obviously - if it was the foster care system wouldn't be so overwhelmed.

IMO the real solution to the problem is in getting people to stop having s*x until they are in a stable relationship, with a decent partner (married, ideally), and are prepared to care for a child. But because nobody wants to do that (abstinence isn't easy, and s*x is alot more fun!), and because no method of birth control is 100%  successful other than abstinence, there will continue to be unwanted children. Abortion won't change that. People have to change themselves.

Answer 15

outlaw abortion and wait and see how many more babies are in the system.

Answer 16

I think there is a scarcity of cot hangers and back alley abortions and thats why this problem is there.