RELIGION AND ABORTION

 Let me start today with:

Before I enter into how religion impacts on abortion, some basic information.  The matter of when human life begins will become particularly contentious in abortion discussions:

Heartbeat can occur 40-50 days (5.5 weeks to 7 weeks) after gestation.

According to Planned Parenthood, when abortions occur:

• Within 8 weeks after gestation:  65%.
• Within 13 weeks after gestation:  91%

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves medication abortions until the 10th week of pregnancy.  These two drugs taken 24 to 48 hours apart:  RU 486 or mifepristone, followed by misoprostol.  

• Several states have specifically outlawed mailing pills into their state.  
• Check with the Miscarriage and Abortion hotline.  You won't know if those pills worked until a month or so later when you do a pregnancy test.  
• Worried about legal risks?  Call the Repro Legal helpline.

From Carafem:

So you’re researching the costs for a medication abortion, aka the abortion pill, and you need to know more! At carafem, the abortion pill costs $250-600 depending on if you choose a video visit or which location you visit. At other providers, the abortion pill typically costs between $300-800, again depending on your health insurance, your state, and your provider.

There is not much difference in the cost of abortion between surgery and pill.  Does your medical plan cover an abortion?  Depends on your state.  Only 15 states have no restrictions.

Medication (pill) abortion percentage has continued to rise:

So where is religion on the matter of abortion?  Like respect for Congress, and now the Supreme Court, religion is not doing well.  How can this be?  Religion teaches morality and tells you to do good.  Well, here is a historic Gallup poll on American's confidence in the Church, showing that our country is now at an all-time low.

This sense was reinforced by another Gallup poll:

More directly about religion and abortion (should be legal in all or most cases):

     Jewish  83%

     Buddhist  82%

     No religion  73%

     Hindu  68%

     Mainline Protestant  60%

     Muslim  55%

     Orthodox Christian  53%

     Mormon  27%

Another poll, as the above did not specifically include Catholics:

The Supreme Court is further poised to seal Democratic dominance in the coming mid-term elections.  They will act on West Virginia v. the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce EPA's power to regulate carbon emissions.  This will hurt Democratic plans to reduce global warming, further influencing those same margins in the Republican Party and for Independents away from Republican candidates, while strengthening the position of Democrats in November.

Tropical Storm Celia never quite made it to hurricane status, and is beginning to now weaken in the eastPacific Ocean. 

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