March 24, 2007
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Deal Or No Deal?
Republican State Sen. Dan Patrick is proposing that pregnant women who are thinking about getting an abortion should be offered $500 to not get the abortion. (I got this issue from AristotleForDummies who is in a heated battle against trunthepaige for best commenter in the left column).
Patrick wants the money to be offered so that women will consider giving the baby up for adoption instead. Here is the link: Link The woman would be paid the money no more than 30 days after she has the baby.
Do you think a woman who is going into a clinic to have an abortion would change her mind over $500?
Comments (131)
prolly not…
maybe,that’s not such a bad idea.
absolutely not. To me that equals selling a baby. Which I thought was very illegal.
1st
Hmmm… I think it could matter on her situation. She may just not want to deal with it or could be poor and take the money. Interesting question!
some woulddddddd. many of these women are having an abortion because they can’t afford the child and have no where to turn.
i think abortion is wrong though.
Depends on their reasoning behind the abortion, I suppose.
I hope not. If so, then we have just determined the price of a human life. And that Americans who support abortion are even more selfish and immoral than I thought
seems like then.. uhmm.. people would get pregnant and not have an abortion just to get the money
absolutely not. To me that equals selling a baby. Which I thought was very illegal.
Yeah, ’cause killing it is the moral thing to do
Its stupid all these things they are trying to do to “persuade” women not to get abortions. That thing about showing the ultrasound picture and now this, crazy.
I’m getting a bit confused by reading the other “commenters”!
wow is that all life is worth these days???
I don’t think its a good idea. What would be wise is to make it ILLEGAL to kill unborn babies and then maybe people would think twice about abortion because the threat of JAIL time would be staring back at them.
That’s disgusting. I think that I have officially lost faith in the world
Sounds like an opportunity to get pregnant and make some money … or just a bribe to do what ought to be the right thing.
That’s sick. Sell you’re right for $500. Anyone who has taken that deal has really sunken low.
I don’t think its a good idea. What would be wise is to make it ILLEGAL to kill unborn babies and then maybe people would think twice about abortion because the threat of JAIL time would be staring back at them.
Posted 3/24/2007 12:29 AM by Ladyj3
Doesn’t stop people from killing people :]
Yeah,I agree with Ladyj3!!
Incentive to protect a life? I don’t think a cheap bribe is the best way to do it. But I don’t see it as being as bad as trying to make it unbelievably easy for any girl that feels like it to get an abortion.
That’s sick. Sell you’re right for $500. Anyone who has taken that deal has really sunken low.
Posted 3/24/2007 12:34 AM by ryoma136
I’m sorry ryoma136, but that just sounds off the wall to those that think ending a life is horrific.
I’m sorry ryoma136, but that just sounds off the wall to those that think ending a life is horrific.
Posted 3/24/2007 12:37 AM by JAM4the1Lamb
I’m glad you noticed it was off the wall. The total thinking time was about… .2 seconds
Great idea, let’s pay women to get pregnant and abort babies.
^ I like that one.
No not $500 but if someone were to tell them that mothers are paid about $10,000 for private adoptions they might. And that is true, they are paid that amount of money
There’s always that possibility. I think it would be worth it.
Pay women to keep making babies to get cash. What the devil?
I’m not a fan of abortions, but I would rather see a baby aborted than see a child live in an abusive home.
While I like the idea of finding ways to get people to not have abortions, this just stinks of bribery.
to most women who have abortions, 500 really isnt that much for that 9 month burden
Yeah. Women will just pop ‘em out for cash. I agree with Ryusuku.
no…
I think it’s a good idea. If abortion isn’t going to be allowed then there should be a good alternative given by the government.
People will abuse this!
let’s see…spend $500….or gain it….
I’d say offer to pay all hospital bills leading up to said birth, include a gym pass to get that hot bod back, or offer a tummy tuck, and THEN throw in some college tuition, or perhaps 1500 bucks….and yeah, you’d have me there. Plus, they’d make all arrangements for adoption and could pay for counseling that might be neccesary for giving up my child I carried in my womb and felt moving for nine months…
then yeah, I’d think about it.
that’s so fucking sick. a baby’s life is reduced to a business transaction? we have to change HEARTS and VALUE LIFE, otherwise it is pointless.
No…!! wtf? Women would just go and get pregnant, go to “get an abortion” and cash out. That’s just a stupid idea
Dammit, abortion is abortion. Leave them the hell alone; those who want to abort probably will, even if done illegally. Quit getting the government to have ridiculous amount of control over our lives.
That said, if they are desperate for money, probably.
But I believe it would make quite little a difference for most of them.
ADOPTION IS NOT ALWAYS AN OPTION!! And besides, WTF does the government think they’re doing trying to stop abortions? Is it their business whether or not a mother wants to keep the baby?
That’s so stupid. Give me all the money I will ever need to raise a human being and THEN I’ll reconsider.
Funny how women who get abortions are considered murderers because they don’t value the “baby”, but these assholes want to pay such little amount for a “baby” themselves. You waste $500 in two months on a child between diapers, toys, formula, etc.
So now we’re selling babies?
Is that going to cover all the prenatal care costs?
Let’s clear up a few things, shall we?
1) Pregnancy is NO picnic. No woman in her right mind is going to go through 9 months of torture just to make some extra cash. Let’s see, back pain, morning sickness, constipation, hemorroids, swollen/sore legs and feet, constantly sore boobs (not to mention the pain after you’ve given birth and your milk comes in, but you have no baby to give it to– I’ve heard that sensation best described as “pure agony”, etc etc etc. And then there’s the fact that after the birth your body feels like it’s gone through a train wreck, and will never ever be the same again. Yeah, that’s TOTALLY worth scamming $500 off the govt for. The hospital bills probably cost much more than that to begin with.
2) Adoption is not always a viable option. When a woman gives up her baby for adoption she signs away any legal parental rights. HOWEVER if the baby’s father doesn’t sign the same paperwork, he could legally come back and claim the baby. This is an unnacceptable option for many pregnant women. I’ve seen women keep their baby, despite all sorts of reasons not to, simply b/c they didn’t want the dad to have the possibility of getting his hands on the baby.
3) If republicans are so damned worried about abortions and wanting to prevent them, why don’t they make health care for women and birth control more readily available, along with proper sex education, so we can, oh, say, PREVENT unwanted pregnancies to begin with?
that is strange- but no i don’t think a measly 500 dollars would make a difference.
That’s ridiculous and wrong. I hate the idea of bribery. But before I go into a long ramble about something irrelevant…
I don’t think so. Unless they were seriously poor. I know I definitely wouldn’t. If a woman wants an abortion then she has to have a good reason, doesn’t she? Or does the American abortion law allow anyone to have random abortions?
Either way now amount of money would change my mind, let along $500…
*alone
I’m not seeing MY name on your list of “Best Commenters”. How was I overlooked??
I think the woman might change her mind for $500 if her medical costs (pre-natal and childbirth) were also paid, as most adoptive parents have a tendency to do. I’m pretty sure that most women have abortions for financial reasons.
Sounds like an opportunity to get pregnant and make some money … or just a bribe to do what ought to be the right thing.
Posted 3/24/2007 12:32 AM by Soultender
My thoughts exactly
don’t kids cost like a $100,000 at least to raise?
Why not have Dan offer the man who got her pregnant 500 to go masturbate next time time instead of having unprotected sex.
How easy can our ideals be bought?
The point of having an abortion is to not have to deal with the complications of pregnancy and birth. Plus, if this child grows up and looks for its birth mother, what is she going to say? Something like “Listen, the only reason I had you was because the goverment paid me 500 bucks”?
We have a society that is fast losing any hope of redeeming itself. We will pay the price later – and I don’t mean the $500.
Um, women will start pretending to want to have abortions, I think,
And there are already so many unwanted children, this would just cause more and overpopulation..
Um, women will start pretending to want to have abortions, I think, just
And there are already so many unwanted children, this would just cause more and overpopulation..
Um, women will start pretending to want to have abortions, I think, just for
And there are already so many unwanted children, this would just cause more and overpopulation..
Um, women will start pretending to want to have abortions, I think, just for the
And there are already so many unwanted children, this would just cause more and overpopulation..
nope. It’ll just have women who are actually not thinking of having an abortion say they are so they can get some extra dough for supplies.
Yeah, this is a pretty piss-poor incubation system. If we want an army of family-less children to go fight in our wars, we have to make sure the mom is not a crack addict while she is pregnant and is taking her vitamins. It would really hurt the military to have to deal with all these fucked up babies. Other than that, I think it is a good idea. It sure beats the draft anyway. Oh wait, they did not say anything about sending those kids straight into the army at age 6, did they? But that would be cool! We could harvest Spartans like that cool and historically accurate movie 300!
(1) anything is possible
(2) Most women who’ve been pregnant wouldn’t get pregnant, carry a baby for nine months (puking, nausea, weight gain, serious bladder issues like peeing ALL THE TIME, etc.) for a mere $500.
and make them become $500 baby factories.
Kinda like giving blood for the money. Helps a poor college student get by.
If they institute this, I’m going to stop using birth control and start calling my girlfriend “my little cash register”.
That retarded. If people don’t see that killing babies is wrong then it doesn’t matter anyway.
And what about those crazy ass people who are probably gonna get pregnant just so they can get the 500 bucks?
I’d take the five hundred bucks and use it to buy a coat hanger. (;
And RYC: Oh Dan, I absolutely love you. Which group did you recognize?
You know what? We should hang out, we can look angsty and pretend to smoke cigarettes and listen to crappy music and be typical teenagers.
Only $500?
That’s not enough money to get someone to change their mind.
Hmm… does he not think that desperate and poor women won’t get pregnant just so they can get $500? This just has “bad idea” written all over it. I do not support abortion, but money isn’t going to be the simple solution. Perhaps if the whole adoption system was improved and expanded so that all the thousands of abortions that happen every year have a place to go instead of the biohazard dumpster behind the clinic or hospital… then we’d have a solution. But the tragic fact is that right now I don’t think there is a place for every baby that is not wanted, and abortion is so popular because it is such a simple solution. What a horrible mess humanity has gotten itself into. So sad.
There have been over 40 million abortions since its legalization; that’s 40 million people in the last few decades that should be here but aren’t. That’s a lot of people.
Well, it wouldn’t be that bad. At least there’d be more babies up for adoption, considering that there are 250,000 couples in the US who want to adopt and only 20,000 babies.
I hate abortion, and I hate that proposition. I can just imagine some welfare trash woman getting pregnant for the $500 bucks thinking that $500 is a lot of money and oh boy how many cartons of Camels could I buy with that? It’s a really bad idea and, what’s more, I think it would increase the number of abused children and the number of children in our foster care system. If a mother wants to keep her baby, money should not entice her to do so. Money is easily spent, and then she’s left with the baby she never wanted. She needs to change her mind completely, based on the morality of the situation, love, etc. rather than just because of $500 bucks.
No, but people who were never planning on giving up their baby would go to a clinic, “change their mind,” and then take the five hundred bucks for doing no work. I know I’d be tempted.
I can’t imagine that $500 is going to change a woman’s mind. I doubt many of them really care about the money, it is probably more about the issue of instant gratification and getting your ‘problem’ fixed asap as opposed to waiting 9 months and possibly getting attached to the baby.
Again, as a woman that got preg at a young age (and never considered abortion), you dont’ get paid $10,000 to give a baby up for adoption, that is called the Black Market. However, I was able to meet one of the nicest couples who offered to pay for all the doctors bills and my car/apartment payments while I was preg. I worked the whole time, but they paid for the doctor’s bills, which was a blessing.
I dunno. I suppose it depends upon the woman’s reason for having an abortion in the first place (money, secrecy, etc.). I think it’d be worth a try!
Oh yes they do, its done all the time. But most, like you are not in it for the money. Yes someone would have paid you, but you, being a descent person, were not out looking for the highest bidder.
There are lawyers that specialize in these things.
I totally agree with soultrender, it just sounds like a money making opportunity for some people to me.
are they going to pay for her medical bills too? PEOPLE NEVER THINK OF THIS!! sometimes, medicaid doesn’t come through, and often, women are denied. what then?
Wow, Building a Mystery quite possibly just won the award for pissing me off the most in 13 words or less… “Americans who support abortion are even more selfish and immoral than I thought”… Wow, I guess Americans who oppose abortion are even more tactless and pompous than I thought…
I disagree with the idea of paying a woman not to have an abortion.. it really is like selling the baby.. which seems even lower than having the abortion, somehow.. I believe in supporting having the baby and giving it up for adoption (though I think abortion should also be a choice, but not the preference), but a cash reward for doing so is so low..
And just to clarify, the first paragraph isn’t directed at all pro-life people, just the ones who make careless sweeping generalizations like the one I quoted… the rest of you are okay.
So what does one have to do around here to be “best commenter”? Be constantly argumentative?
I don’t think $500 is going to change the mind of a woman in a desperate situation. I am pro-life, but I think many pro-life people, in their zeal to protect the life rights of the baby, overlook the fact that the child’s life is inextricably linked with that of it’s mother. By improving the life situation of the mother, baby not only can survive but thrive. If the mother is considering something as drastic as abortion, that woman is probably afraid, desperate, feeling backed into a corner. Perhaps offering something a little bit more lasting than $500 (I think that would cover formula and diapers for a month and a half – please) might go further in changing a woman’s mind. Offering prenatal support and care, employment, health insurance, a home, counseling – that would be much more effective than giving a woman $500 to have her baby.
We have to consider what long term systems are going to be set up for mothers and babies if we want to make abortion illegal again, not just keep focusing on short term fixes like this.
I think abortion should be made illegal, and the punishment should be the death penalty.
That’d teach those darn liberals to devalue human life.
No. Fuck that guy.
naw… not really – i wonder if women would get pregant just to get 500 bucks. I dont know.
I think the church really could have this as a rich ministry oppurtunity. Meeting the needs of pregnant women and showing them the value of both the unborn baby and of themselves, no matter where or how they got pregnant but realizing this is an oppurtunity to show Christ love to someone.
I think simply giving a “hand-out” is a Christian view of a charitable hospitable cop-out. It shows or says that we have better or more importanmt things to do then worry about you and your life so here is a voucher for food or some money and then leave us alone. Real ministry i think would be “walking alongside” pregnant mothers and taking homeless people out to eat rather than simply handing them a food or money voucher.
I admit that even I may have trouble following my own thoughts, and thats simply because we live in a rather selfish world where we are more focused on self than on others. May God give us eyes to see and ears to hear.
- Daniel (doubledb)
what about those who pretend to be interested in abortion, but in reality are only interested in securing the $500?
this is really cruel.if a women has a baby i doubt she will want to give it up for adoption even if she can’t support it.giving them this option will just make it more confusing plus…some will have babies just for the money
There are some really funny comments here. Do people realllllly think that desperate women are going to start getting pregnant so they can make 500 bucks? Desperate people usually need money today or tomorrow…not 9 months from now. I imagine anyone with enough forethough to look down the road 9 months and realize that she will need 900 bucks at that time ALSO has enough forethought to figure out a less taxing way to make the money.
500 bucks, that is.
And I think this is all a fine idea as long as they make it mandatory for pro-lifers to adopt these babies whenever they are born.
That is so stupid! First off, women would get pregnate and “say” their going to have an abortion just to get the money. Then, would they give the child up? Or keep it? Would the child have a good home? Or because the mother just got pregnate for the cash would they ignore the child’s needs? And if they gave the child up – would it have a good home? Or any home? I mean, if all of a sudden millions of unwanted babies are out there – how can you find them all a GOOD home? It’s like selling the kid… It’s wrong! I am 100% for life – not abortion – but that’s just stupid. And $500 isn’t that much… I mean, it’ IS but it isn’t. Would that even stop some? Wouldn’t it make more since to make it harder for an abortion? I mean, I know that you can’t make it illegal because then women would go in the back alley’s and get it done with a hanger or something and that can kill her also. But if they just made it HARDER less women would get one. I mean, teen girls can get one without telling their parents – what if they have problems and bleed to death because the parents didn’t know and didn’t think anything was wrong? grr…. This subject makes me angry. I’m done posting on it.
For starters, I think bokgwai should be on the list of options for best commenter, but I didn’t see a write-in slot.
I think some would accept the money.
However, whether some would or not doesn’t really matter. The government shouldn’t be paying people to dissuade them from doing something that is technically legal.
Of course, they also shouldn’t let innocent people die either, but that’s not the current debacle.
Furthermore, I’m not sure women need more cash incentives to have babies than the government already offers. There could even be people planning on having babies go in and fake wanting an abortion.
No, but it might increase the number of women who get pregnant to give up for adoption just for the cash…
no.
It depends on the conditions of the abortion. For example, if having a child means that me and the baby will likely die in the process of birth, I think I would take life over $500.
Um…. who is going to raise the non-aborted kid?
Let me pretend to get all up in arms over something…
PASSIONATE!
Ok, yeah, WHO IS GOING TO RAISE THE KID? OH THE HUMANITY! The pro-life nut jobs, screaming murder and ruining the world for baby polar bears everywhere, I would like to see one of them righteous suv drivin cowboy soccer moms raise the saved baby as their own, lowering the exploding population growth, which saves baby polar bears and in some abstract way, protects minors from creepy weirdos on myspace.
It’s time for ACTION! I WOULD DIE FOR THIS ISSUE!
Ok, maybe i just really need a cup of coffee…
no.
however..if i didn’t want an abortion.. i’d pretend I did .. just to get the money haha.
That’s a terrible idea. Then, every pregnant woman will claim to want an abortion just to claim the money, even when they plan to have the kid all along. That’s just common sense. People will abuse any system any way they can.
The idea of it bothers me, and I don’t think that it will really change minds. A lot depends on the reasons for wanting the abortion. If you are someone who is single, does manual labour & would have to miss a lot of work in the later part of the pregnancy, etc., would $500 be enough to live off of? What if you lose your job? While I understand that it’s someone trying to decrease the amount of abortions, I’d prefer to see that money spent on teaching people more about contraception instead to avoid the unwanted pregnancy in the first place.
It takes more than $500 fucking dollars to raise a baby. It takes a hell of a lot more than that to go to college, which a parent is not going to help pay for if their daughter is pregnant.
Shit- that’s a terrible thing to do to a poor woman! If a woman is too poor for a child and doesn’t want one anyway, but she gets pregnant, abortion is basically her only choice (if she even has money for that). If she manages to get the money for an abortion, now she’ll have to make another agonizing choice: leave a child she created in the world and have some desperately needed money, or terminate the pregnancy but not be able to pay rent? What will they do about pregnancies that are the result of rape? It’s a despicable idea to want to make a woman carry a physical reminder of her rape for nine months and then either raise it, so she is reminded of it for the rest of her life, or give it up for adoption and always feel torn about it. But then again, why should rape victims, of all people, not get $500 out of the deal? They have the potential to suffer more than any other woman in that situation. Their babies are just as valid for saving-purposes from the right’s perspective.
posssibly – but maybe they sould also offer free prenatal care. It still amazes me how many women do not seek this care.
Sounds like baby selling to me.
How about spending the $500 on sex education so that these dumb Don’s and Dora’s don’t procreate the problem in the first place?
Oh horrors! That would only encourage Don and Dora to have sex, wouldn’t it?
Dumb asses.
Just give it up. Fucking give it up.
yeah.
I think that is ridiculous. There is still a choice between adoption and abortion no matter what. A $500 bribe is ridiculous, and very unfair. Some women, thinking it could help, would take the offer, not honestly thinking about the decision they are making.
If women were offered FIVE dollars to GET an abortion, everyone would go absolutely insane. Why is it fair the other way around? That is absolutely ridiculous.
If they start offering women $500 to not get one, I’ll find each of those women and offer them $500 just to THINK FOR THEMSELVES.
“Yeah, ’cause killing it is the moral thing to do”
It isn’t killing, sweetheart.
“I think abortion should be made illegal, and the punishment should be the death penalty.
That’d teach those darn liberals to devalue human life.”
I applaud you for that, truly. That made my day. That was hilarious :]
It really isn’t such a straight forward matter, is it?
Convincing someone to choose adoption over abortion is great, really, but there are so many, many other factors.
so 500 dollars is what an unborn baby costs….
wow…I don’t even know what to think of this
Well, its possible. It could depend on why she was getting rid of the fetus. But $500 isn’t a hell of a lot, seriously.
Last time I checked, raising a baby costs much more than $500.
If they can get funding for abortions they should be able to get money to put the baby up for adoption- which saves a life and adds another potential contributor to society who may find the cure for cancer or just be a friend to that one person who is lonely and needs a friend somewhere down the road.
Senator Dan Patrick is an interfering idiot. How dare he? Who the hell does he think he is? A “politician” proposing government intervention on such a personal matter. We have way to much government interference in our lives as it is. He expects taxpayers to pay for this?
It is no one’s business what a woman chooses to do with her body, cash or no cash.
Money is inferior. Get the abortion.
It depends how hard headed she is.
no way. that is rediculous. “here, take this money and raise the kid, even if you aren’t ready, wont’ be a good parent, won’t give the kid a good life…but atleast you’ll have some extra cash to blow”.
i say that it would all depend on the situaion behind the aborton.
maybe a few
It would be tempting. It depends on how much influence money has over her mind.
I wouldn’t.
p.s. who is going to take care of all the kids that don’t get adopted?
But then you might have people going in there who really want to keep the baby, but pretend they want an abortion for cash.
That’s just disgusting.
try ultra sound. Seems to work in 85% of cases when women see their baby. Then HELP them place for adoption.
idk. but i do know that women whould just go and say they are going to have an abortion (when they arnt) just to get the $500. dont u think?
Nope, they shouldn’t be paid to not do something that should be illegal.
1. This idea was basically suggested in the 18th century, in Jonathan Stewart’s “a Modest Proposal.” The pamphlet also suggested eating one year-old babies.
2. People who oppose abortion forget that the planet is having an overpopulation problem. There are more people alive today than have died in all of human history thus far, and we’ve run out of frontiers to settle.
thats fucking ridiculous. Bribe a woman to do something she doesn’t want to do. That is so wrong it isn’t even funny. I keep seeing things that scream, “Hi, this is Big Brother speaking. We are now in a battle to control the USA.”
to me it is completely crazy to offer a woman 500.00? i think that would be the last of her worries for what she is experiencing to be considering doing that…and to any woman who could consider it, i hope u know i have 2 kids and 500.00 and getin’ much! and for the whoever them people are sitting up on that hill making this shit up…well how about 500.00 for that homeless man or that family down the road with no ac in their house. the decision of having an abortion is not about a bribe,its about its that womans right to choose, one woman shouldnt be allowed 14 abortions a year but ya know..we all wanna talk about how free we are, then why does some americans wanna put more laws out there just to control us. i think woman got over that shit along time ago we are not sitting home anymore baby and i dont think u should dare offer 500.00 wtf? offer me 500.00 for being a good mother! ~jodie
That is so stupid!
I wouldn’t.
If they do, I feel sorry for them.
A life = $500?
Yuck.
how wrong is it that you can sell your right as a person for a measily $500 what about the baby does no-one seem to care about them??
the baby never asked for this to happen nor did it say hey i’ll start growing in someones belly just so they can kill me because i am not wanted
i have 3 kids and have had 8 pregnancies (but none of them were abortions i have 2 ectopics and 3 miscarriages) i would desperately love to have another baby but medically that’s impossible
so think of the baby and the effect it will have on the mother in years to come
there’s other alternatives in life insted of abortion
what i am trying to say is that you can’t put a price on the human life nor should you try because that’s wrong and impinges on peoples free-will
kind regards
iceqween19176
They might because some of them choose abortion because they aren’t financially able to take care of the child.
And people are already paid to make babies, the government only cares about you after you make more tax payers. They automatically give you thousands of dollars for your dependents and the government will house you for nothing if you sit on your butt and don’t get a job because you have kids.
Whatever it takes to prevent mothers from killing their unborn children.
Haha. So many people could say they wanted an abortion, though they secretly planned to keep the baby all along…just to get the money.
Additionally, many girls have abortions becuase they are too young, not married (and their family would scorn them), embarassed/ashamed, or don’t want the baby-daddy in thier life forever. These girls have more important issues on their mind than money.
Well … some may take the $500, after all the State is going to take care of their babies any way. Why not!
maybe. its worth a chance.
i think that might just make desperate women want to get pregnant just to get the $500. it’s almost like getting paid for not having to deal with consequences of your actions. there are always special cases of course, but in those cases women shouldn’t have to get paid to make the right decision.