Citation

Trias M. Draper Fund Rep. 1982; ePub(11): 8-11.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1982, Population Crisis Committee)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12264604

Abstract

The problem of the unwanted child is a most grievous aspect of the complex of negative factors associated with underdevelopment. Although the problem of the unwanted child exists in industrialized countries as well, the incidence is much higher in the 3rd world. In industrialized nations modern contraceptives are widely available, public awareness of them is high, and legal abortion may be an option in the event of contraceptive failure or nonuse. In Colombia alone, nearly 1 million women are living in immediate danger of an unwanted pregnancy. In the 3rd world as a whole there are an estimated 150 million who do not want another pregnancy but who lack access to contraceptive information and services. Research from a variety of sources suggests that being unwanted and unloved can have a lasting effect on a child's development. Sociological research confirms the need to preserve the bond between mother and child. Studies of adopted children have established a clear relationship between their physical and psychological development and the age at which they were adopted. If this affective bond is not established in the early months of life, the negative effects which result may prove difficult to overcome. Yet, however late it comes, adoption is always preferable to the relative deprivation a child experiences when institutionalized. Studies conducted in Eastern Europe comparing children whose parents had requested an abortion but had not been granted permission with a control group of children revealed a pattern of inferior physical development and social adjustment in the 1st group. Intelligence, in addition to its important genetic foundation, requires physical nurturing and psychological stimulation from the surrounding environment, provided during the final months of pregnancy or the 1st few years of life. Religious doctrine postulates that universal maternal instinct allows the mother to overcome her problems, but this is often not the case. Infanticide dates back to the dawn of history. Access to contraception and legalized abortion have minimized the occurrence of unwanted births. Where effective family planning services are unavailable, there are more subtle and crueler ways of limiting family size. The incidence of the unwanted child could be drastically reduced by extending to all families the wide variety of modern contraceptives now available and by offering medical abortion services to those who want them.

Language: en

Keywords

Abortion, Induced; Abortion, Legal; Age Factors; Americas; Behavior; Child; Colombia; Contraception; Contraceptive Availability; Crime; Demographic Factors; Developed Countries; Developing Countries; Economic Factors; Family Planning; Fertility; Infanticide; Latin America; Policy; Population; Population Characteristics; Population Control; Population Dynamics; Population Policy; Pregnancy, Unwanted; Psychosocial Factors; Reproductive Behavior; Social Policy; Social Problems; Socioeconomic Factors; South America; Youth