The subject of abortion, like that of vaccination, evolution, and, somehow, Earth’s sphericity, has been the victim of a plethora of nonsense and illogical arguments. This is made much worse in our modern era, where misinformation abounds, and horrific videos claiming to depict abortion can be summoned to your fingertips in seconds. In truth, abortion isn’t a conspiracy, nor is it murderous or awful. It’s an everyday medical procedure that is unequivocally the best option for many people. One in every four women have an abortion before they’re 45.
I’m going to be straightforward and clearly state the facts. In doing so, I’m going to sound quite biased. That’s because this isn’t a two-sided issue, or a matter of opinion. Pineapple on pizza is a two-sided issue, and a matter of opinion. Abortion, like vaccination, is only a debate because people have spread misinformation and manufactured a debate from a medical procedure. Anyone who truly cares about the women in their lives and knows even the basics about abortion would never do anything to restrict access or vilify those who perform or undergo abortions. It would be irresponsible of me to pretend that there are two equal sides to this “debate.” Every anti-abortion article I’ve seen either cites themselves, another article by the same author on the same site, articles behind a paywall, and articles that prove their claims false. Meanwhile, I’ve never seen Planned Parenthood or any providers of abortion spread anything other than verifiable and heavily sourced facts.
89% of abortions are performed within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, during which the fetus is less than 5 centimeters in diameter. About 99% of abortions are performed before 21 weeks, and barely more than than 1% are performed later. Those “late-term” abortions are either medically necessary to save the pregnant person’s life, or performed on fetuses that have severe birth defects and won’t survive long outside the womb. No one is pregnant for six months and suddenly decides “Oops! I don’t want to have a baby anymore, time to get an abortion!” The very fact that we’re having a debate about the life and viability of the fetus betrays the truth that abortions should be available readily to everyone. The pregnant person is definitely alive, and definitely “viable,” and deserves to be able to choose what they do with their life. The restriction of access to abortion endangers all pregnant people. Besides, no one is required to give their body to extend the life of anyone else, fetus or not. It’s called bodily autonomy, and it’s the reason those in power can’t legally force others to donate organs or bodily fluids. It’s no different in the case of a pregnancy; consent to sex is not consent to pregnancy.
Fetal pain is a complex issue, but the very existence of a debate here is baffling to me. No one discusses the pain of childbirth, or the pain of pregnancy itself. It’s clear that these arguments are simple used as fodder to attempt to ban abortions. If the fetus feels pain during the 1% of abortions that reach the stage at which this discussion is valid, why aren’t doctors required to administer anesthesia to the fetus before birth? There’s evidence that birth itself is quite painful for everyone involved, including the newborn child.
Adoption is a common cry of those who oppose abortions, but truthfully, it’s not a much better option. Most people have abortions because they are not equipped to care for a child, whether it’s financially, mentally, physically, or combinations of these and other factors. The foster care system, especially in America, generally gives children a lower quality of life, both mentally and physically. Often, children are never adopted. If you really care about the baby, wouldn’t you rather someone have an abortion and later have (or adopt) a baby they can care for, or have a child they resent for their whole life because they felt forced to carry a pregnancy to term? Alternatively, would you rather they give a child up for adoption after being forced to live through nine months of pregnancy symptoms, and experiencing the horrors of childbirth?
Abortions are one of the safest medical procedures, and are much, much less dangerous than the process of giving birth. There is no increased danger to the pregnant person regardless of how abortions are performed. There is, however, greater danger in cesarean sections, which are sometimes performed against the patients will and due to the doctor’s impatience.
Why not redirect your anger at doctors who decide to force a C-section because they want to go on vacation faster than at doctors who provide an essential service to women? Abortion clinics are under constant fire from so-called “pro-life” activists, and doctors who provide abortions are often forced to move often or hide. Meanwhile, ICE is actually murdering children at our borders, (and raping and abusing detained adults) our military is bombing families across the Middle East, and children are being bought and sold as sex slaves to Hollywood stars and rings of rich pedophiles. If the life of a fetus matters more than the lives of those children, you’re going to have to stop pretending you care about life or hold religious beliefs. If you’re fighting against women who just want to live their lives and not be forced to carry, birth, and care for a child they don’t want, but you don’t care about the children forced to work in third world countries because of our capitalist society, you’re a hypocrite. If you repeat the nonsense spouted by those who threaten to bomb abortion clinics and kill abortion providers, but don’t threaten the U.S. Military, or try to kill people who defend people like R. Kelly and Harvey Weinstein, I’m not going to believe they actually care about what they say they do. Obviously, all of that violence is terrible, but there’s a lot of people threatening to kill and bomb abortion providers, and most of them support the military, child rapists (like our current president and the aforementioned Hollywood stars) and ICE. Who are you really angry at, and why?
I’m not saying that you have to be mad about all the horrors in the world at once, I’m just saying that if someone is using the “life of a child” as an excuse to attempt to restrict access to abortions, but they aren’t using the same argument to try to change anything else in the world, their concerns aren’t religious.
Anti-abortion zealots that spread fake videos and repeat nonsensical rhetoric aren’t trying to “save the lives of unborn children.” They simply hate women, and want to punish women for having sex outside of marriage. Even the anti-abortion “activists” who’ve been drawn in by the bullshit and might truly want to protect innocent “children” are propagating a culture of hatred and shame towards women. If they really wanted to stop abortion, they’d donate to Planned Parenthood, who provides many things other than abortions, and has done more to prevent abortion than any anti-abortion efforts have. They achieved this through their distribution of contraception and their efforts to increase access to sex education. Funnily enough, if people have proper sex education, and unfettered access to contraceptives, they’re much less likely to cause an unplanned pregnancy or become pregnant! Mind-blowing, isn’t it?