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The argument most pro-lifers make when it comes to being against abortion is that it is ‘immoral to kill an unborn child.’ There is a difference between killing a child and killing a fetus, but yes, one can argue that a fetus is still alive and so terminating it is a form of murder. However, just because this makes many people upset and uncomfortable, doesn’t mean that it is a valid case for claiming that we should scrap abortion.
If abortion is illegal, it will still happen. This is probably one of the biggest pragmatic cases for keeping abortion safe and legal. Statistically, women who are in countries where abortion is safe and legal are far less likely to suffer serious injuries, and in some cases death, compared to when abortion is performed illegally. This is because when abortion is illegal, the doctors may not be properly qualified, are less likely to have the proper anaesthetic, and have to use dangerous instruments such as coat hangers in order to remove the fetus from the woman. This makes the experience more traumatic for the woman and worse for the fetus, as rather than being terminated in a safe and secure way, they end up undergoing a much more dangerous procedure.
(I am British, but I am aware that many Americans make this argument when it comes to gun control. They say ‘well if guns are illegal, people will still buy them.’ The difference is that gun legislation is much worse and more dangerous for society, due to the enormous amount of gun-related deaths that happen in the USA every year compared to first world countries that do not have gun legislation or that do have tighter gun restrictions. If abortion is legal is it safer and better for society, so the two can’t really be compared.)
You can’t push your views onto others. Just because you are against something, doesn’t mean you can go around telling other people that they should also be against it. I mean sure, you can, but doesn’t mean they are under any obligation to listen to you. Who do you think you are? I am against a lot of things; I am against religion, but I have never once in my blog posts or in real life advocated for a total ban on religion. That would make me intolerant, and mean I was pushing my views onto others.
If you don’t want an abortion, you don’t have to get one. No one is forcing you to have an abortion, but if abortion was illegal, it would force thousands of women to either have unwanted babies or undergo dangerous backstreet abortions (which would be worse for both the mother and the child). Newsflash: I am personally against having an abortion. I am EXTREMELY in favour of birth control; if you are against abortion then by simple logic you should be very pro-birth control. Birth control is FREE in the United Kingdom under the NHS, and condoms are available for free for under 25 year olds. There is absolutely no excuse for women to not use any form of contraception (including condoms) and women who choose not to are clearly being selfish or reckless, which brings me to my next point.
Reckless women should not be raising children. If a woman is reckless enough to not be using contraception or condoms (when again, it is FREE in the UK – I can’t speak for other countries), what benefit is there for her to be raising a child? It’s all very well to say ‘well, she can just give it up for adoption’, but that assumes that the woman will be rational enough to go through that long process of adoption when she has already been irrational enough to get pregnant in the first place. Plus, why should she have to endure nine months of having a child in her body that she does not want? Why should she have to go through all that pain that is going to enormously impact her life? Sure, it’s great if she is happy to give the child up for adoption, but a woman who doesn’t want to go through the tremendously life changing feat of being pregnant shouldn’t have to endure that because of your personal feelings against abortion.
Young, single women are more likely to have unwanted pregnancies then older, married women, simply because a woman who is married is more likely to plan if/when she wants to have a baby, and an older woman is more mature than someone in their early twenties so is in a better place to have a baby. A child should not have to bare the burden of their reckless mother’s actions when they are far more likely to endure poorer circumstances if they are unwanted. It is much kinder and quicker to terminate the unborn fetus, which believe it or not is not the same as a living, breathing baby, much less a woman who has already experienced a great deal of life. If a child is unwanted, they are more likely to grow up in less financially and emotionally stable circumstances, which can lead to higher risks of engaging in crime and other risky behaviour. If a child is born into a stable, loving and wanted environment, they are less likely to end up engaging in delinquent behaviour, which makes them less of a risk to society on the whole.
Rape. A very unfortunate and sad case is when a woman becomes pregnant through rape. If she is forced to raise that baby, every time she looks at it she will be remembered of the rapist. (Ok, that’s a slight exaggeration). This is a more emotional argument, but I believe it is a fair one to make, as most of us can agree that it is horribly unjust to force a woman who has become pregnant through rape to have a child she does not want. It is bad enough she has had to go through such a horrific trauma, but then being forced to have that child (especially if she is very young) is just inflicting further pain on to her, not to mention the child is going to grow up never knowing their birth father and then finding out that their father was a rapist. What child deserves that?
Accidents happen. No birth control is perfect; if you take the pill everyday it is 99% effective. The IUD or IUS (which I will soon be getting) along with the implant are all long-term reversible methods, again 99% effective. Even if a woman is cautiously taking her birth control constantly or is on a long-term method, there is still that tiny chance that she can have an unwanted pregnancy. And again, if she does not want to have that child, why should she be forced to have it just because a few people are ‘morally against’ it? By what rights are you allowed to force people to have children?
Having a child is an enormous responsibility and massively impacts a person’s life. It affects the mother, the father, the child, and probably other family members as well. There are married women who may not want to have a child yet or ever, or they may have many children and not want any more. There are young women and single women who are in a worse position to have a child, unless they come from a financially wealthy background.
And finally, if a man gets a woman pregnant and he is not married to her, by law he has to pay child support until the child is eighteen. That is another enormous responsibility. Forcing a woman to have a child she doesn’t want also forces a man to pay for a child he doesn’t want. And what’s to say the child is even his? I don’t know much about paternity fraud but I am aware it is a thing; what’s to say that the woman gets pregnant with another man’s baby and then forces her current boyfriend to pay child support by pretending that the child is his child? Why should a man have to pay for a child that isn’t his? If he is aware of this and is happy to do so, great, but if not, by law he has no obligation to pay child support if it is not his child.
I believe that it is important for society for abortion to remain safe and legal, however from a moral and practical perspective I do not agree with abortion being used as a form of birth control. If you use birth control of any form (including condoms), you are far less likely to have an unwanted pregnancy than someone who doesn’t. But accidents can happen, and some women are reckless enough not to use birth control (although, for the third time, it is FREE in the UK under the National Health Service – seriously I can’t understand some people). Abortion should be available as a safe, last resort, for anyone who may need to get one.
Links:
‘Each year between 4.7% – 13.2% of maternal deaths can be attributed to unsafe abortion’
http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/preventing-unsafe-abortion
Unsafe Abortion: http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-09-2017-worldwide-an-estimated-25-million-unsafe-abortions-occur-each-year
Free contraception UK: https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/contraception/getting-started/getting-and-using-contraception
Reckless women: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/may/23/unsafe-sex-why-everyones-at-it
‘Pregnancies in young, single women are most likely to be unplanned’
https://wellcome.ac.uk/press-release/one-six-pregnancies-among-women-britain-are-unplanned
Related posts from moi:
https://www.thezarinamachablog.co.uk/2017/02/pro-choice-vs-pro-life.html
https://www.thezarinamachablog.co.uk/2017/07/birth-control.html
