Yes, but society and culture influences people. You honestly think that abortion has not effected the state of motherhood in no way at all??
I think that abortion doesn't influence the ability of mothers who choose to be mothers or is somehow a cause for bad parenting.
You make it sound like women are horrible creatures who'll either murder their kids, or keep them and be awful mothers because the option to get an abortion was there. It makes no sense. There is no willing for women or mothers.
Take a look at the illegitimacy and divorce statistics when abortion was legalized. You will find quite a surprise.
1973 was also the year US withdrew from involvement of a major war, was when "Dark Side of the Moon" was released, the year the Dolphins had their perfect season, the DEA was founded, Stockholm Syndrom came to be named, homosexuality was no longer classified as a mental illness, and there were 3 major aircraft incidents at Logan airport. Perhaps the determining that the state's laws on abortion were unconstitutional was the cause?
Though I did some research... The major change in divorce statistics occured in the 1950s and 1960s, a clear 10-20 years before Roe v. Wade. The change in divorce occured in 1960 with the introduction of no-fault divorce laws and the changing of laws that stated divorce could only be due to abuse, mental disability, or adultery, and the introduction by the ABA of family law. The final big change in divorce laws came in the early 1980s when welfare reform included and required child support.
And I found divorce statistics... The peak years of divorce in the US were from 1965-1969, before the RvW. Divorce rates in the 1970s and 80s were low, late 80s-mid 90s another high, and early 2000s through 2005, the last year of reporting, were low again. I wish I could link the article but unfortunately in the comments section a poster has an offensive avatar.
So yes, abortion does have a "ripple effect" in today's society and the state of motherhood. Roe v Wade was like a huge stone being thrown into a lake. The calm waters representing the whole of families across the country. Abortion has brought waves of turmoil and instability towards future families. Abortion pits mothers against their children. And with that type of mindset being pushed in secular society it obviously is gonna have a social effect on people and the state of motherhood.
The waters of family life were not at all calm during the 1950s and 1960s... Marital abuse was at an all time high, I shouldn't have to tell you about the massive cultural revolutions of the 60s, the instability in government and society... I don't know where people get this idea that the 1950s-60s were when women wore heels and pearls, called their husbands "sir," and had dinner ready every night so they could eat as a family.
In actuality, women worked (the 60s and 70s actually saw women working at rates not seen since WWII), women were away from home, when the war and draft started there was a resurgance of latch-key kids, the economy was crumbling, people hated their government, civil rights issues were dividing the country, it was a very scary time. The TV shows that people take, for reasons passing understanding, as a documentary on how "the way things were" were responses to the extreme stress and instability of the time and is really indicative of a trend that's come up during every US crisis where the entertainment people turn to is simple, nostalgic, and lighthearted. It's not a sampling of how life was at the time. During WWII you saw a lot of it too, a huge wave of slapstick comedies, movies featuring family unity, upbeat music, generally lighthearted literature...
I'm always shocked at just how little people know about US history and how many people turn to TV as a source of truth on "how things were." God help us all if in 30 years people think "Friends" and "Seinfeld" are shows that depicted what average American life was like.
Abortion has an enormous effect on motherhood. Especially in areas where abortion propaganda is more accepted. In the US the state of motherhood is awful and embarrassing.
I think it's attitudes like that which do more to drive women to abortion then prevent it. Abort and be a murderer, or don't abort and have a child and contribute to the awful and embarrassing state of motherhood in the US. Darned if you do, darned if you don't. The only common thread here is that mothers, if they choose to be mothers or choose to abort, are failures, disappointments, embarrasments, and don't care about their kids.
And I notice we haven't mentioned how fathers contribute to this or the role of fatherhood in the US. Though I don't need to ask, I already know. Men can't be great fathers as long as women persist in being such horrible creatures who hate children.
I think the issue here has stopped being one of abortion and motherhood, but a general contempt for all women justified by the existence of abortion.