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More Religious and Devout Young Women Have Abortions Despite being educated in religious schools

by Tudor Vieru - Science Editor Softpedia

http://news.softpedia.com/news/More-Religious-and-Devout-Young-Women-Have-Abortions-113068.shtml

A new study published in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that young women in their teens or early twenties who have attended religious schools are more likely than their peers to get an abortion, despite their beliefs. In fact, the research points out, these girls are more likely than those in the public school system to get pregnant without being too mature or married. The findings are very weird, because private religious schools, regardless of the god they promote, pride themselves in enforcing a very strict policy as far as contacts between their students go.

“This research suggests that young, unmarried women are confronted with a number of social, financial and health-related factors that can make it difficult for them to act according to religious values when deciding whether to keep or abort a pregnancy,” explained City University of New York (CUNY) John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center assistant professor, sociologist Amy Adamczyk. She is also the author of the new paper.

For her research, the expert kept an eye on 1,504 unmarried and never-divorced young women in 125 different schools around the United States, aged 26 or younger. The goal of the investigation was to determine exactly how religious behavior influenced the young girls' decisions to have an abortion. Other studies have shown a strong link between religion and abortion attitudes, but this correlation has thus far remained largely unstudied.
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Posted: Wednesday, June 3, 2009 | Permalink

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1. Comment #384328 by nickalito on June 3, 2009 at 9:06 am

Perhaps the doctor killers may now realise that abortions aren't just carried out on godless baby killing atheists who have been taken over by the devil? They should start pointing the finger closer to home/church?!?

Other Comments by nickalito

2. Comment #384329 by Dax on June 3, 2009 at 9:08 am

@ nickalito: now they're just gonna kill their own ilk for getting abortions. "Krazy Kristians"

Other Comments by Dax

3. Comment #384330 by CaptainMandate on June 3, 2009 at 9:12 am

hmmm some sort of sex education may be in order....

sorry, my heathen mind going off on one again

next thing I'll be suggesting anyone refusing a cervical cancer vaccination for their daughter under religious reasons is some kind of sick mind-fucking child abuser.

The one thing I thought was strange was the comment on how wierd the result was

it's totally to be expected, next they'll be saying it's wierd how countries in africa with high rates of religious superstision have an AIDS problem..!

Other Comments by CaptainMandate

4. Comment #384331 by nickalito on June 3, 2009 at 9:14 am

Either that or there will be mass exorcism's being performed, in order to drive the demons out of these young women! More than likely, though, they will probably just start shooting each other. 'Krazy Kristians' indeed!

Other Comments by nickalito

5. Comment #384334 by John Desclin on June 3, 2009 at 9:27 am

As Captain Mandate suggested in comment # 38430, one should not be surprised by such results. As he very pointedly suggested, they very likely reflect the lack of adequate sexual education.

Other Comments by John Desclin

6. Comment #384335 by Rosbif on June 3, 2009 at 9:28 am

Makes sense!
Religious piety is for yelling at non-believers.

If you’re a religious nut, you don’t need to follow the rules; just ask any catholic priest.

Other Comments by Rosbif

7. Comment #384336 by firstelder_d on June 3, 2009 at 9:28 am

private religious schools, regardless of the god they promote, pride themselves in enforcing a very strict policy as far as contacts between their students go

Yes, funny how biology always wins over invisible sky fairies.

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8. Comment #384337 by Rosbif on June 3, 2009 at 9:32 am

Comment #384336 by firstelder_d

Yes, funny how biology always wins over invisible sky fairies

You are assuming that these were not virgin abortions!

Miracles do happen you know.

Other Comments by Rosbif

9. Comment #384341 by hungarianelephant on June 3, 2009 at 9:46 am

This is a misleading headline.

We don't actually know whether the incidence of abortion is higher in "religious and devout" women, only that it is higher if they have been to a religious school. As many of us know personally, religious school attendance is not necessarily an indicator of religiosity.

In fact the study specifically found that

neither religious involvement, nor frequency of prayer or the perception of religion's importance has any bearing on the women's decision

And why exclude married women? Do they never have abortions?

Other Comments by hungarianelephant

10. Comment #384342 by JonLynnHarvey on June 3, 2009 at 9:48 am

Tend to agree with

so abortion rates could be higher due to the potential for increased feelings of shame related to an extramarital birth

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11. Comment #384343 by severalspeciesof on June 3, 2009 at 9:50 am

*Looks into crystal ball, waves hands over it...*

ooh wait, I see an answer coming in from the religious mindset:

"But if they had an abortion then they're really not more religious and devout"...

Other Comments by severalspeciesof

12. Comment #384344 by severalspeciesof on June 3, 2009 at 9:56 am

9. Comment #384341 by hungarianelephant

Party pooper...

But you're very right...

*Note to self... Must take reading comprehension classes...*

Other Comments by severalspeciesof

13. Comment #384345 by Ed-words on June 3, 2009 at 9:57 am

Hungarian Elephant #9

I think,IN GENERAL,we can assume that students
in church schools are going to be more
religious.Their parents are religious enough
to spend a bundle on tuition, and surely,
must have indoctrinated them since childhood.

There are always exceptions.

Other Comments by Ed-words

14. Comment #384347 by ev-love on June 3, 2009 at 10:06 am

The finding I found surprising was:

"Despite Adamczyk's finding that rates of reported abortions were higher for young women educated at private religious schools, the type of religious school was not a factor: Catholic schools had similar rates as other religious schools."

ev-love

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15. Comment #384348 by Buchner on June 3, 2009 at 10:09 am

Is abortion any less common among Catholic women?

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16. Comment #384351 by hungarianelephant on June 3, 2009 at 10:15 am

13. Comment #384345 by Ed-words

That may be true, but we can't infer correlation (much less causation) in relation to a subset of the group just because there is a correlation in the group as a whole.

And in any event, what's more interesting is the abortion rate per pregnancy, not per woman. We know that there is a higher pregnancy rate amonst religious school attendees. The article says so, but declines to provide any breakdown. For all we know, fewer might decide to terminate, and the apparently high abortion rate really reflects an even higher pregnancy rate.

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17. Comment #384352 by eh-theist on June 3, 2009 at 10:18 am

Buchner: We do know that Catholic men are less likely than Catholic women to have abortions - I suspect because they're more devout.

This is why women need to continue to be oppressed by religion - they're making us eat the "forbidden" fruit, they're the ones having the abortions and they're the ones who are cooking with milk.

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18. Comment #384354 by LittleFluffyClouds on June 3, 2009 at 10:22 am

HungarianElephant--

Now that's what I'm talking about.
These observational studies that find some random correlation without a rigorous theoretical framework are just going to become politicized noise.

If the researchers want to prove a point about religion, they need to eliminate the confounding variable of religious SCHOOL and focus on those who profess the doctrine. That, for me, is what matters.

Of course, in this case, they're going to say 'correlation is not causation' and if you do it my way (by looking at per-pregnancy abortion rates by professed religion) then they'll just say they weren't practicing Christianity even if they professed it.

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19. Comment #384355 by brainsys on June 3, 2009 at 10:22 am

Careful with this. The introduction to the paper says "Findings show that personal religiosity is unrelated to reported abortion behavior."

Please comment on the actual paper rather than an incomplete precis. It starts on page 5 here: http://www.asanet.org/galleries/default-file/Jun09JHSBFeature.pdf

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20. Comment #384357 by Masrock on June 3, 2009 at 10:29 am

The really sad outcome is that many of these poor girls will feel guilt for the rest of their lives, even after rearing successful families in later years when they were better able to provide for offspring.

Masrock

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21. Comment #384358 by hungarianelephant on June 3, 2009 at 10:29 am

Buchner - From 2006:

Christians Have as Many Abortions as Everyone Else, Catholics Have More: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/03/prweb357377.htm

Of course, this doesn't tell us much about strength of belief. Of the billion or so nominal Catholics, there are probably only about seven who actually buy into its nonsense wholesale. I know plenty for whom the Vatican's stance on abortion is a point of explicit disagreement.

Another interesting statistic is the number of Irish women having abortions - around 4,000 a year (that is, approx one per 500 females). This is a lot [EDIT] lower than the rate in England and Wales (more like one per 150). It becomes a more impressive figure when you consider that it is not actually possible to have an abortion in Ireland. All those women have to make a trip, usually to private clinics in England - and this is perfectly legal. Yay for coherent policy!

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22. Comment #384361 by severalspeciesof on June 3, 2009 at 10:37 am

19. Comment #384355 by brainsys

Thanks for coming up with the actual report...

Other Comments by severalspeciesof

23. Comment #384362 by Mr DArcy on June 3, 2009 at 10:37 am

Well at least not all good Christian women have abortions
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/29/bristol-palin-baby-son-tr_n_154081.html

Will the little beggar Trip up Sarah's presidential hopes?

Other Comments by Mr DArcy

24. Comment #384363 by Buchner on June 3, 2009 at 10:42 am

Comment #384358 by hungarianelephant

Thank you for that!

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25. Comment #384368 by Clairebear on June 3, 2009 at 10:54 am

Probably most people here have read the studies done on abstinence-only and religious sex-ed courses. People end up getting pregnant anyway, because they hold naive beliefs. The best one I ever heard one of these young people say was 'it wasn't really sex if he didn't ejaculate, so you can't get pregnant'. And plenty of people thought that washing with cola (!) would prevent a pregnancy. Ridiculous!

I was just reading an interesting article, actually, where abortion providers wrote about their experiences of 'pro-life' women coming in for abortions. A lot of them were convinced that THEIR termination was the only moral one, and that 'those other women' in the waiting room were just 'sluts'. http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/anti-tales.shtml

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26. Comment #384369 by Anarcho-Syndicalist on June 3, 2009 at 11:05 am

Not that surprising, belief (and fear) of a deity doesn't match the social stigma of an unwed mother in some of these Creatard circles. I just feel sorry for these poor women, who are raised with no knowledge of their own biology, or dog forbid, sexual education. So when the inevitable happens, they have a choice; do what they were taught, keep the baby and become a social pariah in their community, or have an abortion, keep the social network with no one the wiser, and live with a lifetime of shame because of lifetime conditioning. Y'know, them leaving their families and maybe getting a more well rounded view of the world wouldn't be so bad...

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27. Comment #384370 by Rowdy1 on June 3, 2009 at 11:10 am

I wonder how many "bad girls" are sent to religious schools by their parents in hopes they will be turned into good little angels. Perhaps this would explain the correlation better.

As far as Catholic abortions being higher, well, since they don't believe in using contraception...

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28. Comment #384377 by rod-the-farmer on June 3, 2009 at 11:22 am

Aaack. What this really needs is a presentation by Hans Rosling. Correlation between abortions and religiosity. (See TED). I wish I knew how to make his software work, I think the most amazing conclusions would pop out.

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29. Comment #384378 by mjwemdee on June 3, 2009 at 11:22 am

Comment #384358 by hungarianelephant

Another interesting statistic is the number of Irish women having abortions - around 4,000 a year (that is, approx one per 500 females). This is a lot higher than the rate in England and Wales (more like one per 150)...

Sorry, am I the only one to be confused by this? Are you saying the rate in Ireland is higher than the rate in England and Wales, or the reverse?

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30. Comment #384379 by mlgatheist on June 3, 2009 at 11:40 am

These children are taught that having sex without being married is a sin and they learn how badly they will be treated by others if the others find out that is what they did.

They have been taught that their mythical god forgives sins. It is just as easy to ask their mythical god to forgive 2 sins as it is to ask for forgiveness of 1 sin.

They decide it is better not to live with the treatment of being found out and so they have the abortion and then ask their mythical god to forgive both sins. It makes their sad lives just a little easier.

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31. Comment #384389 by Stonyground on June 3, 2009 at 12:21 pm

Someone made a comment earlier regarding the vaccination against the bug that causes cervical cancer. I had expected some sort of backlash from the religious lobby but as it turned out it was confined to certified nutjobs such as Steven Green and one single Catholic School. I have always been suspicious of the litigation culture that wants to blame someone or anyone for every misfortune that befalls them and thus aquire a sackload of money that they have not earned. However, I believe that in this case the religiots have lacked the courage of their convictions in the full knowlege that a girl who contracts a fatal illness as a result of their opposition to this vaccine would be able to sue them for everything that they own right down to their underwear and as a result their infinitely wise and infinitely powerful god has been forced to take a back seat to common sense.

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32. Comment #384390 by notsobad on June 3, 2009 at 12:24 pm

are more likely than their peers to get an abortion, despite their beliefs.

Despite?
Is there any better proof that you don't believe in everlasting hell fire than having an abortion?

The findings are very weird

Who would have thought that sexual repression and lack of sex education would lead to this...

Other Comments by notsobad

33. Comment #384391 by DamnDirtyApe on June 3, 2009 at 12:38 pm

Also more abstinence-supporting pro-life vice presidential candidates have daughters who have children out of wedlock.

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34. Comment #384434 by phonakins on June 3, 2009 at 2:27 pm

What? There's a double-standard out there DDA? *dies*

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35. Comment #384436 by Eric Blair on June 3, 2009 at 2:39 pm

I’m surprised there’s no co-relation to attitudes toward birth control (cannot be assumed from religious attitudes).

Not surprised about higher incidence among Catholics, as taking birth control means planning to have sex, i.e., to “sin.” “Planned” sex is harder to get absolution for later than having “unplanned” sex - which then sooner or later leads to pregnancy and abortion.

Why don’t more religious women consider options to abortion like adoption or raising the child, given their view of abortion as tantamount to murder. Well, no doubt some do but in a religious environment either means also facing scorn and scandal, which clearly many don’t wish to do.

EB

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36. Comment #384459 by RightWingAtheist on June 3, 2009 at 4:22 pm

The church's irrational hatred of sex is probably stronger than their supposed value on life.

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37. Comment #384465 by Ed-words on June 3, 2009 at 4:45 pm

Most Catholic married couples use contraceptives and still trot off to Mass
on Sunday. My point is ? ? ?

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38. Comment #384504 by Daniella on June 3, 2009 at 7:11 pm

I think they should look more at the correlation between sex education (abstinence v contraception) and the prevalence of STD's and unwanted pregnancies and abortion.

I think that would be more telling.

Other Comments by Daniella

39. Comment #384506 by Goldy on June 3, 2009 at 7:24 pm

Since we're talking of sex....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8081829.stm
If the Catholic church taught that this was natural, maybe some of these problems would not occur...

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40. Comment #384596 by ev-love on June 4, 2009 at 4:05 am

Goldy,

Gay Penguins AGAIN?

Remember "And Tango Makes Three" ?

Didn't 'they' try to ban that????????????

Only just realised 'Goldy' is very nearly 'Godly'.

How slow of me!

ev-love

ev-love

Other Comments by ev-love

41. Comment #384601 by Fidelitas on June 4, 2009 at 4:21 am

Buchner, 'ev-love', hungarianelephant, others like you ........

Try to understand (just for once!)

The Church isn't "agaist sex". What a silly. stupid accusation!

The Church of God is against the slaughter of little defenceless babies.

GET IT NOW?

Other Comments by Fidelitas

42. Comment #384603 by Dr Doctor on June 4, 2009 at 4:27 am

You have to be winding us up Fidelitas.

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43. Comment #384604 by Caudimordax on June 4, 2009 at 4:27 am

The Church of God is against the slaughter of little defenceless babies.

But apparently not against forcing defenseless little nine-year-old girls to carry their rapists twins to term. Now that's disgusting.

Other Comments by Caudimordax

44. Comment #384607 by Roger Stanyard on June 4, 2009 at 4:34 am

Fidelitas claims

The Church isn't "agaist sex".

Are you sure? The evidence massively suggests otherwise. Have a look at the "religious right" (against sex outside of marriage, same sex relationships, readily available contraception, sex education...) or celibacy in the Roman Catholic Church.

Certainly Christianity has a long, long track record of making people feel guilty and dirty about sex.

Other Comments by Roger Stanyard

45. Comment #384609 by Mark Jones on June 4, 2009 at 4:36 am

Comment #384601 by Fidelitas

This is a complicated issue, but you have to agree that the answer to 'When is a baby a baby?' is not clear cut.

No-one welcomes abortion, but by your reckoning, your own god is a reckless slaughterer of little defenceless babies through miscarriages.

Other Comments by Mark Jones

46. Comment #384614 by God fearing Atheist on June 4, 2009 at 4:54 am

#384601 by Fidelitas

Let us assume for sake of argument you are correct *.

If the article is correct, then "The Church of God" is making a pigs ear of achieving its objective.

* You are wrong. See #384607

BTW I voted in the UK European elections this morning. Noticed the "Christian Party of the Lord" on the ballot paper. Needless to say, I didn't cross that box.

Other Comments by God fearing Atheist

47. Comment #384617 by Fidelitas on June 4, 2009 at 5:16 am

Saying God causes miscarriages is just plain stupid.

I had a miscarriage when I was in a car wreck. Did God cause that?

When I was pregnat with my darling, darling child i had no-one to turn to. I had no money. Nothing,

But I didn't kill him.

You say I should.

I say it would have been murder.

Other Comments by Fidelitas

48. Comment #384624 by epeeist on June 4, 2009 at 5:29 am

Comment #384617 by Fidelitas:

Saying God causes miscarriages is just plain stupid.

So why do more than 15% of all pregnancies end in spontaneous abortions - http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/405801_print

Other Comments by epeeist

49. Comment #384629 by Mark Jones on June 4, 2009 at 5:35 am

Comment #384617 by Fidelitas

You're avoiding the question; who is responsible for all the *natural* miscarriages, in your worldview?

Other Comments by Mark Jones

50. Comment #384632 by Fidelitas on June 4, 2009 at 5:43 am

You dont care what people feel.

All you want to do is quote statistics and try to score your litle points.

I know what it feels like to ber a child and carE for him and love him AND NOT KILL HIM SO LIFE CAN BE NICE AND EASY.

It was so hard. Ask any woman. we get on with living and we dont need to be preached at by people with clever percentages

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