Michigan’s Flawed New Abortion Coercion Bill, Part II

Last week, we talked about exactly why the language in MCL 750.213a is profoundly flawed in a way that will likely cause some doctors to simply stop talking about abortion to pregnant women. I mentioned that it was relevant to family law, but I didn’t talk much about how — or about why the law’s flaws were so important. It’s time to do that.

Unwanted Children
As a family lawyer, some of the most tragic figures I talk to are the unwanted children who are suffering through a divorce. I don’t want to take a political stance, because I’m not particularly happy with either side of the abortion debate — but I can tell you from personal experience that unwanted children are generally treated quite differently than children had deliberately. You don’t have to take my anecdotes for evidence, though — there have been plenty of studies that show the difference.

• This study from Washington state showed that unwanted boys had were 11 times as likely to become chronic juvenile offenders (5 or more offenses before age 18).
• This study from Denmark showed that boys who suffered from complicated births and maternal rejection (i.e. were not wanted by their mothers) were responsible for nearly 4x as many violent crimes as children who did not suffer both of those factors.
• This study from Sweden followed 120 children whose mothers applied for abortion and were denied. The unwanted children enrolled in more welfare programs, required more psychological counseling for antisocial and/or criminal behavior, received less education, and the girls had children significantly earlier than a control group of their peers.
• This study from the USA shows that as abortions are easier to obtain, rates of child abuse drop.
• This study from the UK shows that up to 1/3rd of mothers who are denied an abortion harbor long-term resentment of their child.
• And finally, this study from San Francisco shows that mothers denied an abortion are 42% more likely to be on welfare, 16% more likely to be living below the poverty level, and 17% less likely to be employed full-time than similar women whose abortion had been approved.

Whether you believe that abortion is morally right or wrong, you have to accept the fact that by preventing women from getting abortions — or in the case of the flawed ‘abortion coercion’ law, even talking to their doctors about abortions — you are creating dire circumstances for both child and mother.

Trauma Upon Trauma
Now, I generally only meet a child of denied, failed, or coerced-out-of abortion when one of their parents comes into my office looking to get divorced. There are no studies of these kids — no scientists have analyzed any data on how enduring a divorce affects a child who is already suffering all of the fates above.

But I can tell you that as a family lawyer, in my personal experience, the stress of even a best-case-scenario divorce is enough to make an already-wounded child break. I can also tell you with absolute conviction that having an unwanted child is a catalyst for a significant number of divorces.

All of this is, again, not to say that abortion is the desirable or “right” solution to all of these situations — but it is to say that any attorney, legislator, executive, or judicial officer that supports laws like MCL 750.213a absolutely needs to be well-educated in the effects those laws have on children, on families, and on society as a whole.