Abortion is all over the world but alone in the United States there has been a reported 50 million since 1973, and it is estimated that 3,322 abortions are performed daily. Abortion affects the mothers of the aborted baby, the family of that mother, and families all around the United States that want children and can’t have them. The mothers are faced with the guilt of what they have done and, even with counseling, still often go into depression. The families of the mother who chose abortion are often unaware of the abortion until after the fact and have to mourn the sibling, niece, or grandchild that they never had the chance of meeting. All over America families are in the process of adopting because they cannot conceive, they can wait months and years before being placed with a child and watching girls just throw their babies away deeply upsets them. Across America millions of families are dealing with the effects of abortion.
Pro-Choice advocates argue that in the case of rape and incest, many times woman do not know they are pregnant until well into their first semester and argue that for this reason the morning after pill is ineffective. They also argue that along with not knowing or being embarrassed these women would be put through more trauma by carrying out the pregnancy. They argue that a woman’s control of her body is critical to civil rights, and that by taking away their reproductive choice you are also giving the government control of making woman take birth control or undergo sterilization. They also say that teenage mothers have a grim fate. That a woman’s fetus is a part of her body just like her ear or nose. They argue that until the fetus is at a “viable” age it does not become a human being. The last of their points is that adoption is not always a good choice because once a mother has the baby they often cannot part with it. While I have considered and thought carefully about all of the Pro-Choice points, and respect their opinions, I feel differently.
While many women may be embarrassed or not know if they have conceived due to rape or incest the morning after pill is always available and should be a safe alternative. Without having to tell anyone there is nothing stopping a woman from going to the store and getting the pill. While it is true a woman’s body is her own, the comparison between baby's rights and mother's rights is unequal. What is at stake in abortion is the mother's lifestyle, as opposed to the baby's life. While a teenage mother may fall into the stereotype, teens just like women of any age have many other options beside abortion. A woman should think of the ways to prevent pregnancy before she is already pregnant. The argument of a fetus’s viability is always changing. While the law says a fetus is viable at 24 weeks, babies born at 20 and 22 weeks have been born and survived with no disabilities. So who are we to say when a baby can survive? While many mothers cannot or will not choose adoption it is always a good choice for people who cannot provide for their child. Millions of families are waiting for an adoptive child to be placed with them and if expecting mothers who are thinking of abortion could see what their child could have with any of these families maybe they would choose differently. The fact of mothers not giving up their babies after birth just shows that it was worth it to go through with the pregnancy. Until birth they do not see their child as an actual baby, and once they see their beautiful babies they are happy with their choice.
My last argument is that of fetal homicide laws. In Arkansas if a mother is killed in a violent act the murderer is charged with a double-homicide regardless the age of the fetus. If this is true how can we justify abortion at all? For the death of an unborn child in its mother’s womb the murderer can be charged with 99 years in prison for the fetus alone. The mother may not have even known she was pregnant, and there is justice for that child, but when it is an abortion nothing is done. In every case of abortion it is a gruesome scene and yet it is legal, but when a child is killed with its mother it is scene as murder.
Abortion is a heated topic in the United States and it seems everyone has an opinion about it. I hope through the facts and my reasoning that you will see that Abortion no matter the reason is wrong, and that every child should have the right to live.
