Do Pro-choice Individuals Support Animal Rights?

To read what a nightmare the foster system is, check this out:

http://ww w.city-journal.org/html/9_1_foster_cares.h tml

To read what a nightmare the foster system is, check this out:

http://ww w.city-journal.org/html/9_1_foster_cares.h tml

Foster children and young people who are coming into care are particularly at risk for suicide. The successful prevention of a crisis depends on the ability of foster parents and agency staff members to understand the nature of the situation and work together in dealing with it.

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebP ortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detail mini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearc h_SearchValue_0=EJ429032&ERICExtSearch _SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=EJ42903 2




What the Science Says
In the time it takes to watch an episode of Law and Order SVU, five infants are being removed from their homes for abuse or neglect or both. During the time you’re getting ready to go to work, another five babies move into foster care. Everyday in the United States, 118 babies leave their homes because their parents cannot take care of them.1 The quality of their entire lives – at home and in foster care – is deeply troubling. Children between birth and three years have the highest rates of victimization, with infants accounting for almost 10% of all child maltreatment victims.2 Children ages 3 and younger are also 34% more likely to be placed in foster care than children ages 4 to 11.3 Once they have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care, infants stay in foster care longer than older children.4 Infants and toddlers who come into contact with the child welfare system are at great risk of compromised development.5 Approximately 42% of them are developmentally delayed, many of them so delayed that pediatricians consider them developmentally impaired.6
Babies and toddlers are the most vulnerable to the effects of maltreatment, and its impact on all aspects of their development can have life-long implications if not properly addressed. Research shows that young children who have experienced physical abuse have lower social competence, show less empathy for others, have difficulty recognizing others’ emotions, and are more likely to be insecurely attached to their parents.7 They are also more likely to have deficits in IQ scores, language ability, and school performance than children who have not been maltreated.8
The science of infant-toddler development and mental health is instructive to both professionals and policymakers working toward improving outcomes for infants and toddlers in the child welfare system. Indeed, the science makes it abundantly clear that positive intervention during the first years
of life is critical to children in the child welfare system. Consider these facts about infant-toddler development and mental health:
􀂃 Between birth and three years old, the brain cell connections that govern sight, hearing, and language are mapped out. External stimulation (positive and negative) has major influence over everything the brain regulates: among them are memory, emotions, and learning.9
􀂃 From the first days of life, infants remember what has happened in their lives. So called “perceptual memory” links growing babies to sights and smells that can trigger intense psychological and physiological responses.
􀂃 From smiles to averted gazes and yawns, babies are trying to communicate their needs and feelings to us.10
􀂃 It is now possible to identify signs of depression and other psychological disorders in babies as young as 3 months.11
􀂃 From birth, babies feel empathy toward other babies in distress.12
􀂃 Low birth weight and pre-maturity lead to developmental challenges for infants and put them at greater risk for a range of medical problems. It is estimated that forty percent of babies involved with the foster care system were born low birth weight or premature or both. More than half of these children suffer from serious health problems, including elevated lead blood-levels, and chronic diseases such as asthma.13
􀂃 Flying below the radar screen is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). It is a physical disability whose primary symptoms (e.g., poor judgment, impulsivity, difficulty learning from experience, slow developmental pace) are often misdiagnosed as oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, attention deficit disorder, and emotionally disturbed. The brain damage is caused by alcohol and drugs that pass the placental barrier during pregnancy. It cannot be cured but, if correctly diagnosed and treated, accommodations can be made to allow people with FASD to lead productive lives.14
􀂃 The single most important predictor of a child’s healthy growth and development is the attachment s/he forms with a consistent, loving caregiver. A secure emotional bond with a loving caregiver gives infants the belief that they are worthwhile and gives them the ability to nurture themselves, care for those around them, and develop the motivation to learn about their world.
􀂃 Babies grieve when their caregivers disappear.
http://www.zerotothree. org/site/DocServer/Court_Teams_Sci_to_Poli cy.pdf?docID=2524

[quote="futureshock"]Foster children and young people who are coming into care are particularly at risk for suicide. The successful prevention of a crisis depends on the ability of foster parents and agency staff members to understand the nature of the situation and work together in dealing with it.

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebP ortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detail mini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearc h_SearchValue_0=EJ429032&ERICExtSearch _SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=EJ42903 2




What the Science Says
In the time it takes to watch an episode of Law and Order SVU, five infants are being removed from their homes for abuse or neglect or both. During the time you’re getting ready to go to work, another five babies move into foster care. Everyday in the United States, 118 babies leave their homes because their parents cannot take care of them.1 The quality of their entire lives – at home and in foster care – is deeply troubling. Children between birth and three years have the highest rates of victimization, with infants accounting for almost 10% of all child maltreatment victims.2 Children ages 3 and younger are also 34% more likely to be placed in foster care than children ages 4 to 11.3 Once they have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care, infants stay in foster care longer than older children.4 Infants and toddlers who come into contact with the child welfare system are at great risk of compromised development.5 Approximately 42% of them are developmentally delayed, many of them so delayed that pediatricians consider them developmentally impaired.6
Babies and toddlers are the most vulnerable to the effects of maltreatment, and its impact on all aspects of their development can have life-long implications if not properly addressed. Research shows that young children who have experienced physical abuse have lower social competence, show less empathy for others, have difficulty recognizing others’ emotions, and are more likely to be insecurely attached to their parents.7 They are also more likely to have deficits in IQ scores, language ability, and school performance than children who have not been maltreated.8
The science of infant-toddler development and mental health is instructive to both professionals and policymakers working toward improving outcomes for infants and toddlers in the child welfare system. Indeed, the science makes it abundantly clear that positive intervention during the first years
of life is critical to children in the child welfare system. Consider these facts about infant-toddler development and mental health:
􀂃 Between birth and three years old, the brain cell connections that govern sight, hearing, and language are mapped out. External stimulation (positive and negative) has major influence over everything the brain regulates: among them are memory, emotions, and learning.9
􀂃 From the first days of life, infants remember what has happened in their lives. So called “perceptual memory” links growing babies to sights and smells that can trigger intense psychological and physiological responses.
􀂃 From smiles to averted gazes and yawns, babies are trying to communicate their needs and feelings to us.10
􀂃 It is now possible to identify signs of depression and other psychological disorders in babies as young as 3 months.11
􀂃 From birth, babies feel empathy toward other babies in distress.12
􀂃 Low birth weight and pre-maturity lead to developmental challenges for infants and put them at greater risk for a range of medical problems. It is estimated that forty percent of babies involved with the foster care system were born low birth weight or premature or both. More than half of these children suffer from serious health problems, including elevated lead blood-levels, and chronic diseases such as asthma.13
􀂃 Flying below the radar screen is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). It is a physical disability whose primary symptoms (e.g., poor judgment, impulsivity, difficulty learning from experience, slow developmental pace) are often misdiagnosed as oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, attention deficit disorder, and emotionally disturbed. The brain damage is caused by alcohol and drugs that pass the placental barrier during pregnancy. It cannot be cured but, if correctly diagnosed and treated, accommodations can be made to allow people with FASD to lead productive lives.14
􀂃 The single most important predictor of a child’s healthy growth and development is the attachment s/he forms with a consistent, loving caregiver. A secure emotional bond with a loving caregiver gives infants the belief that they are worthwhile and gives them the ability to nurture themselves, care for those around them, and develop the motivation to learn about their world.
􀂃 Babies grieve when their caregivers disappear.
http://www.zeroto three.org/site/DocServer/Court_Teams_Sci_t o_Policy.pdf?docID=2524[/quot
I still don't see the 60% if that is what you are trying to point out..

Okay people, I'm sorry I ever brought it up, geezzzeeee!

First of all, the girl who was in and out of orphanages/foster care came up with that percentage on her own. She said she witnessed this. I never said she actually got the statistic from a credible source. The point was to show that not everyone who grows up in foster/orphanage care are "happy to be alive" and "would rather be there than have been aborted." Meblonde said that if you actually asked them, they would say they choose life over abortion...
What the girl said proved my point about that...

Time to drop that. And anyway, it doesn't really have anything to do with animal rights either.

I already stated that the girl didn't have a source and maybe if you people actually read everything, you would have figured that out a while ago.

Back to the topic at hand.

What does animal rights have to do with abortion anyway? Abortion is about women's rights, not the rights of puppies and kittens and little fluffy bunnies.

Does anybody know why that post and others have the sentences crossed out? I didn't look like that when I looked at it in preview.

Here is the crossed out part again, (fingers crossed).

The reason I posted this was to give some insight at the horrors of the whole foster care system. I, personally, was completely ignorant to just how tragic the whole thing is, until I began reading about it just yesterday.


I also realized how so many children get put into that system. I used to be confused about it because I know that there is a long, long waiting list for couples to adopt babies, so how could there be half a million kids in foster care?

The answer is, most teens and other ill equipped women who give birth do not put their children up for adoption. They take them home from the hospital thinking they have a clue what they are doing.

They don't, and they don't have the money or support system either, and the babies end up being taken away from them and put in to foster care. Now these babies are considered "damaged", and nobody wants them, even though they are still babies.[/quote]

I didn't bother reading all of these posts. I started this initial post out of spite which was a mistake. I do believe a relation between pro-choice and animal rights can be formed however it takes more input. Time which I don't have. I apologize for not supporting my claim and will back it up at a further date on here.