My biggest bone of contention with the pro-life movement in general is that it forgets what illegal abortions were like. We're talking STAPH infections, mangled uteruses, and in many cases, death by hemorrhage. Women were being butchered by their care providers because there was no legal standard for a safe abortion. Abortion was legalized not only on the grounds of free choice, but also as a pragmatic solution to a growing health problem.
Furthermore, there would be no need to criminalize abortion if our society would just take that next step and invest in other women's health options. I think we need to have that conversation WAY before we have the conversation that the pro-life movement is having.
What's that? People getting unhealthy illegal abortions does not make the concept OK and does not set a precedent for making it legal?
It sets the precedent if society at large is being harmed. "Public health problem" means the problem is big enough to affect more than just a few individuals, and the course of law is designed to deal with secular problems like public health.
And we're not talking about a cold, by the way. We're talking about mutilation and death. If you're going to sacrifice the mother for the child you should be equally willing to sacrifice the child for the mother. Death is death.
I think that few people who identify as pro-choice actually endorse abortion. Pregnancy is a joyous affair. Just knowing that a little person is growing inside you makes you see things in a whole new light. Wrestling with yourself over whether to terminate a pregnancy is heart-wrenching.
But here's what we're forced to think about: is the father going to be around? If he's not, how am I going to take care of the child? What will my family think? Will they support me? Can I support myself?
I can tell you that I personally would not have help if I fell pregnant. I could do everything right. I could wear a condom and it could break. I could go to the drug store the next day and take a morning after pill, and there's a possibility it wouldn't work. So now what do I do? I can hope the father will help me take care of it, but who says that they will? Who says they will even be a good father? I certainly wouldn't be able to ask my family because, due to circumstances outside of my control, we are estranged. The government won't help me because I'm above the poverty line. Barely, by the way, by about 5k a year, and children cost a lot more than 5k a year.
So what is a girl left to do? I could put it up for adoption, but can I really sit tight and watch as a doctor carries away the child that I spent 9 months bringing into the world? My answer to that is "unlikely." I could tell myself throughout the entire pregnancy that I WILL give it up, but once I hold that baby, once I see its face, hear its voice, and feed it with the milk of my body, well, a mother's love is primal. My deepest, oldest instincts simply wouldn't allow me to give it up.
If I carry the child to term, I keep it, and plunge myself into poverty. Forget about any other great task I would have accomplished, I'll spend the better part of my life just struggling to survive.
Oh, and my circumstances certainly aren't the worst. I'm not an addict. I'm not homeless. I'm not in an abusive codependent relationship. What happens to the children of those mothers? Do you think they will live meaningful, productive lives?
I am more than a uterus. I have a heart, a mind, a soul, and a purpose. My world is greater than the outcome of one pregnancy, and my children deserve to have a mother who will give them the best opportunity at a good life. THAT is why I'm pro-choice.
