February 11, 2004

Cuba and Abortion

Six out of ten preganacies in Cuba are aborted. As confirmed by the Cuban Government's own numbers. Not only that, but abortions are paid for by the state, encouraged even.

Now, take this quote from the Multiple Sclerosis organization:

Cuba is another secular nation that supports stem cell research and human therapeutic cloning. "Religious views do not shape anything they do," Caplan said.

Pragmatism also plays a role in Cuba's attitude, he added. "Cuba thinks they can make a contribution because it is so new that no one else has a big lead."

And let me give you a hypothetical situation:

Juana is a 14 year old girl living in Cuba. She is very poor, and while she does recieve an education and has free health care courtesy of the Cuban government, she, as well as the rest of her family, dont have enough to survive on. So, like many other girls her age, she becomes a jinetera (prostitute) so that she may get the coveted dollars by selling herself to foreigners.

She doesnt really worry about becoming pregnant, after all, she does have free healthcare and abortions are commonplace in Cuba. She takes her chances as she needs to help put food on the table.

One day, Juana realizes that she is pregnant, and dutifully, goes to her local clinic, where the healthcare is free, for an abortion. The doctors run tests on her and confirm her pregnancy and give her an appointment for her abortion. The date is over 6 months away but she does not worry because she has free healthcare.

So she carries her unborn child until that date and when she appears for her procedure, she is given a sum of money - American money - for, as her doctors state "Her sacrifice for the revolution." She takes her money, has the procedure, and forgets all about it.

Meanwhile, her unborn child, bought and paid for by the Cuban Government, is used, unbeknownst to Juana, for stem cell research.

Everybody wins, right?

Posted by Val Prieto at February 11, 2004 03:47 PM



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Comments

That saddens me.

Posted by: Sgt Hook at February 12, 2004 12:36 PM

You know, the high abortion rate is just one part of the story. Very early on after the revolution, Castro set about breaking the Catholic hold on the island. The most obvious ways were jailing priests, closing churches and appropriating church land. Another way was promoting promiscuity among the young.

I'm not making this up. Very good friends of mine have told me similar stories about how they were rounded up, without their parent's permission, and sent to el campo for months of field work. It wasn't a prison camp -- they were fed well, clothed, etc. -- but often times it was back-breaking work, and the kids were denied contact with home or any form of entertainment, including newspapers or books. When they weren't working they were being taught Marxism and the whole lot. Recreational sex was encouraged as a way to beat the boredom. Contraception was freely available. Sex was used to sell the revolution: they were free of repressive church teachings as well as capitalism. Blah blah.

It's one of the reasons why divorce rates are so high in Cuba and many couples don't even get married. That may not be shocking, but in comparison to the rest of Latin America it is.

Posted by: Will at February 12, 2004 04:13 PM

All they need to make it complete is to install millions of free "soma" dispensing machines and millions of "feelies" throughout the country and we'd truly have "A Brave New Cuba"

Posted by: Rob McEwen at February 12, 2004 09:25 PM