One way to cut healthcare cost,

[aodh]

I've just got to stick an oar in this debate. It apparently never crossed anyone's mind that when the Doc pointed out the facts of raising a "special needs" kid that the parents decided that the burden socially, mentally and physically on them made an abortion the best decision. I have never understood the argument that the fact the state's medical welfare agency would or would not pay for the procedure made the abortion decision any easier for the parent. I doubt that "Oh well, what the hell, its free. Lets do it!" is a big factor in the decision.

For the record, 9 years ago I worked for one of OK's largest private agencies that provided care for "moderately developmentally disabled adults", our clients were mostly Downes Syndrome adults in their 30's. The state at that time was paying us about $120 per resident, per day for those individuals staying in our nursing home, at that time the least expensive form of care provided. The individuals usually got into the system from their parents when Mom (usually the care provider) got too old and frail to handle the adult child. Our annual budget was about $25 million, virtually all derived from one federally funded program or another, and we were not nearly the largest agency handling DD adults. This shows that there is a significant taxpayer burden to these private decisions, beyond the cost of whether the government funds abortions or not.

 

[Hobbes]

The stigma with having a daughter in China is so large, and men considered so superior, that I think the culture and the country simply doesn't care about the disparity in man:woman ratio.

My friend who lived there for several years in the Peace Corps knew of many cases where female children were aborted, or if/when born they simply were disposed of like garbage. The culture breeds (no pun intended) families to want sons.

Well I've never been to China so I won't hold myself up as some expert.

But I do know that China is facing some extreme problems because of their imbalance of male to female children.

The hint of "serious" problems ahead can be seen in the increasing cases of human trafficking as bachelors try to "purchase" their wives.

China's police have freed more than 42,000 kidnapped women and children from 2001 to 2003.

The vast army of surplus males could pose a threat to China's stability, argued two Western scholars. Valerie M. Hudson and Andrea M. Den Boer, who recently wrote a book on the "Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population," cited two rebellions in disproportionately male areas in Manchu Dynasty China.

According to their analysis, low-status young adult men with little chance of forming families of their own are "much more prone to attempt to improve their situation through violent and criminal behavior in a strategy of coalitional aggression."

The growing crime rate in China which is being linked to China's massive "floating" or transient population, some 80 million of which are low-status males, seems to add weight to their observation.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5953508/ns/world_news/t/china-grapples-legacy-its-missing-girls/

It's also clear to me, from interviews of China's leaders, that they are keenly aware of this threat to the stability of their society because it poses a threat to to their continued rule.

The highest priority in China is stability and it's not in the interests of the government to pursue a policy that erodes that stability.

The abortion of females and infanticide of girls is happening in spite of Central government policy from Beijing, not because of it.
What is happening in the remote provinces where the national government has less power is something else entirely.
One could say the same thing about many countries, including the US.


ETA: The states of Washington and Oregon both have Physician Assisted Suicide laws but it's not accurate to say that the United States supports physician assisted suicide.
In fact it's just the opposite.

 

[Edgar Derby]

Most American women don't want abortion. They are happy with men paying for them with alimony, child support and gov't welfare. A lot of women have kids with multiple fathers just to get child support. If the dad is a "deadbeat" she can still get welfare.

Some women now want men to pay for a consequence-free lifestyle(abortion) without letting men opt out of being a father.

Where's the GOP's War on Women?

 

[inactive]

The abortion of females and infanticide of girls is happening in spite of Central government policy from Beijing, not because of it.

Agreed - I think that puts it quite pointedly, thank you.

 

[Biggsly]

I am just glad that now we know that NPR, Time, and Wikipedia are all non creditable sources. This will help in future post, im sure.

I think we all new that Fox and MSNBC was no good.

As far as health care. It will never be cheap. Both side like to use it for political gain.

 

[Hobbes]

I am just glad that now we know that NPR, Time, and Wikipedia are all non creditable sources.

Don't know how you arrived at that conclusion. I consider them to be better than average sources of information.