Top 10 Arguments for Pro Choice

Suggested by SMS

There probably aren’t more issues more emotive than the abortion issue. Pro life campaigners cite the sanctity of life, and that once conceived, even before a bundle of cells becomes an actual person, a fetus automatically has the right to life.

Religious groups, politicians, and many other groups and parties are clamoring to have a say in the matter. It’s used as a platform for political campaigns, touted as an unpardonable sin, and has been the cause of violent attacks, on clinics, doctors and nurses who work there, and women who visit them. Blood boils when the topic of abortion is raised, with both the pro life and pro choice factions attempting to put their point across, but seldom ever listening to the valid arguments of the other.

Children should be a source of joy, yet the decision whether or not to have them has become a source of pain, hatred and misery. I am sure, whatever higher power is out there, never intended for this to happen, and that the violent outbreaks are a source of anguish.

However, when examining the facts, and while there are valid arguments on the part of pro life campaigners, there are the same on the part of those who are pro choice.

When you get right down to it though, the decision whether or not to become a mother rests with that woman. It is her body that will carry the child, her life that may be endangered if a difficult pregnancy occurs, and her life that will change irrevocably once that child is born, whether she chooses to keep the child, or place it up for adoption.

Here are our top ten objective arguments for pro choice.

10. No One Has the Right to Decide But You

Assuming that you live in country or state that has made elective abortion legal, you, as the potential mother to be, have the sole right to determine whether you wish to keep the fetus that is growing inside of you, or not.

For one of many reasons, whether they be financial, or because you are in a bad relationship, were rape, have a chemical dependency, or a potentially life threatening hereditary disease, or any other reason you may have, you have the right to decide on the future of your body.

Pregnancy is difficult, often dangerous, and certainly not something to be entered into lightly and caring for a child is even more so, on all counts. Making sure you are physically and mentally able to be a mother should be your first priority, rather than the decisions others would like to foist on to you.

Think about it – no one would force you to donate an organ, submit to drug testing, or any other form of invasion of your body, and if they did, it would be illegal. Bottom line? No matter what anyone says, does or threatens, the decision is yours.

9. Every Child Should be Wanted

The truth of the matter is, children who are not wanted, and not put up for adoption, are likely to end up with parents who are disinterested at best, or actively abusive at worst.

Having known people who have been adopted, it’s easy to recognize a common refrain that runs through their laments. Why didn’t they want me? Even the most well adjusted wonder why they were given up, and those that are not end up with lingering mental health disorders, stemming from their abandonment issue. They have trouble forming relationships, and may have behavioral problems as well.

In short, whether they are kept by their natural parents, or given up for adoption, the likelihood is that children who are not wanted and cherished will suffer some form of ill effect.

Interestingly enough, several of the people I have spoken to who are adopted have stated that if they ever had to choose between adoption and abortion, in the event of an unwanted pregnancy, they would choose the latter.

8. There Are Countless Destitute Children Already

It’s a fact that there are already countless thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of homeless, orphaned, or unwanted children in the world.

These children, scattered across the globe, lack proper nutrition, healthcare, education and shelter. They never have the opportunity to truly be children – to play, laugh, and be happy and carefree. Instead, they live in poverty and fear, are abused, and often die before they reach adulthood.

We can argue till the cows come home, but the money spent lobbying against abortion would be better spent helping those children. Think about it – if someone really wants an abortion, they’ll find a way to get one, regardless of what you do or say. Save your money, and save a child who is already suffering.

7. In Some Cases, Abortion is Safer

Not to generalize, but there are circumstances where the mother to be is unable to sustain a pregnancy safely, and would endanger herself, as well as her fetus, if that were to occur.

In such an instance, it makes sense to perform an abortion, saving the woman in question’s life, rather than to risk both her well being, and that of the fetus.

It’s a tough decision in most cases, and often happens to women who would dearly love to have a child, but in this case, common sense should prevail.

6. Legalized Abortions Save Lives

Going back to a point that was made earlier, if a woman is bent on aborting a fetus, whether she goes to a clean, legal, proper medical facility to achieve it, or a back street butcher, she will find a way to do it.

Of course, many women die from backstreet abortions, or contract serious illnesses, or are so scarred for life that they are never able to bear children.

It should be borne in mind that just because a woman chooses to end one pregnancy, does not mean she never intends to have children, and forcing women to seek illegal, unsafe abortions would result in this for many. Of course, you may choose to argue that she deserves what she gets for her sins, however, I could counter with “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

5. No Woman Should Be Forced to Mother a Child of Rape

The act of rape, in itself, is violent, abhorrent, and leaves scars for life. A rapist takes from a woman her dignity, and her feeling of security, leaving her forever fearful.

When such an act results in a child, it is not the result of love, or even carelessness, but rather, that act of violence made flesh. If a woman who has been raped is forced to carry her child to term, she will feel that child move inside her, knowing that half of it is composed of her attacker.

If she chooses to keep that child, she will forever be torn between the love of a mother for her child, and the memory of the man who brutalized her, and if the child ever finds out the truth behind their conception, they may well develop self loathing or other mental disorders.

Rape is a crime, and the perpetrators of rape should be punished, however, if women who become pregnant out of rape are forced to carry the child, they are the ones who are punished. That is not fair, in anyone’s book.

4. Chemically Dependent Mothers

More and more, in our messed up, damaged world, women who are drug addicts or alcoholics become pregnant. The fetus she carries inside of her has no chance of being born normal, or of having a normal life.

Oftentimes, these women, by circumstance, are poverty stricken or homeless, living a life of pain, unhappiness, and misery. To bring a child into a situation like that would be cruel and inhuman, and if that child will also bear the burden of physical and mental disabilities, then it should not even be a consideration.

Alcohol abuse and chemical dependence are diseases, and the sufferers are usually unable to stop, even when they are aware they are pregnant. If they do carry to term, their children are born dependent on the substances they use, or have birth defects. People who are chemically dependent are also not in control of their faculties all the time, and may not even have realized that they are pregnant, or even that they had sex, or with who.

In this situation, the only humane thing to do would be to end the child’s suffering before it begins.

3. The World Is Overpopulated

In countries like China, where strict regulations are set on the size of families, and enforced abortions are the norm for those who fail to obey, this has come into effect because the governments of those countries know they lack the resources to cater to a larger population.

The same problem is occurring around the world, where large families typically live in poverty, and borderline starvation, while those who have fewer children enjoy a better quality of life.

Food stores are dwindling, fresh water supplies are less able to cope with demand, and fossil fuels that provide life giving energy are fast dwindling, leading the world for disaster. Humans are breeding themselves out of existence, and unless something is done to slow population growth, we will continue to have more and more poverty, hunger, disease and other symptoms of over population.

By giving people the choice – whether they want to have a child, or have another child, or indeed, have a child right now, we effectively help ease the growth of our population.

2. Contraceptives are not Infallible

It’s often argued that if you don’t want children, you shouldn’t get pregnant in the first place, which is fair enough. However, how many people don’t become pregnant when their condom breaks, or their pill does not work for one reason or another?

Perhaps these people, who are doing their bit to be responsible, simply cannot afford to have a child at that time, or perhaps the woman cannot afford the expense, or time off work, that goes with having a baby. Should they then be forced to have that child, either jeopardizing their own financial futures, careers or other aspects of their lives, or should the woman be forced either to have an illegal backstreet abortion or place the child up for adoption?

While the indiscriminate practice of abortion as a means of birth control is abhorrent, and should be stopped, there are legitimate cases, where through no fault of their own, couples end up having to make this decision. Giving them all the options is only fair.

1. Morality is Relative

As you will notice from all other points on this list, the concept of morality is not a fixed point of view, able to be imposed on one and all, regardless of circumstance or any other factor.

Morality is fluid, and just as an abortion for the sake of abortion is wrong, when used as a remedy to irresponsible behavior, the outlawing of abortion under the right circumstances, and for the right reasons, is also wrong.

If we begin to make decisions for people on issues as private as what to do for their bodies, where does it stop? Do we then begin to advocate forced sterilization for people living with diseases that are hereditary, or who are chemically dependent? Do we begin forced medical screening or other invasions of privacy?

Where do the black and white areas end, and the grey areas begin? How can we justifiably call ourselves free, when government or other groups have the power to decide what we do or don’t do with our bodies?

In most cases, I believe, abortion is not a decision that is arrived at lightly. It is something that is carefully weighed, agonized over, and considered, and as such, it should be respected as the right of the individual. After all, they are the ones who will have to live with their decision, not you.

Bonus

Laren Galloway has a good Scottish surname. His parents are from New Orleans and the fact that they are both African-Americans and have produced a blue-eyed baby is amazing.