The Leading Edge: Raising Money to Prevent the Next Generation

The Leading Edge is a new feature of CBMW’s Edge blog.  The purpose is to bring you stories that are happening right now that you may have missed, but will impact the culture in which you live tomorrow.  It will be posted regularly and maybe even several times per day by the staff writers at CBMW Edge.

The Story:  “Raising Money to Ensure Women Have Access to Abortions” by Marina Villeneuve, 8/25/13, Los Angeles Times.

The Lead :  “Republican-controlled legislatures have passed laws leading to reduced access to abortion, including 24-hour waiting periods that mean women must make two trips, mandatory ultrasounds that add to the cost, limits on the use of tax dollars and stricter standards for clinics that have led some to shut down.

“As a result, low-income women are increasingly seeking assistance from little-known abortion funding groups, including the Lilith Fund. The mainly volunteer-run nonprofits in 40 states offer advice, grants and sometimes interest-free loans, raising money with wine tastings, yard sales and casserole cook-offs.

“A national coalition of 103 abortion funds provided $3 million in assistance to 21,000 women last year — an amount that has remained steady over the last five years. Meanwhile, funding groups report far more calls to their hot lines.”

Why it Matters:  Sexual ethics have been consumed in the abortion debate.  For several decades, the country’s leading abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, has received billions in aid from state and federal taxpayers.  As more and more Americans raise objections to having their tax dollars used to fund that which they morally oppose, the American abortion industry has to look for new ways to stay viable (no macabre pun intended).

For some, abortion is essential to the concept of gender and sexual complimentarity.  Even if the state refuses to fund the abortion industry, that does not mean abortion will go away.  Abortion is big business – both morally and economically.