Why is abortion such a personal issue for most women?

[Anonymous]

Lets look at the statistics.

- In 2013, unmarried women accounted for 85.2% of all abortions (CDC).

- Women in their 20s accounted for the majority of abortions in 2013 and had the highest abortion rates (CDC).

- Adolescents under 15 years obtained .03% of all 2013 abortions; women aged 15–19 years accounted for 11.4% (CDC).

Why do you think this is happening? Why are unmarried women who are presumably not in any condition to raise a child having sex, careless sex?

- The abortion rate of non-metropolitan women is about half that of women who live in metropolitan counties (NAF).

Women in metropolitan areas are generally well off...so rich unmarried young women are having the most abortions...is this not frivolous?

In 2004, the Guttmacher Institute anonymously surveyed 1,209 post-abortive women from nine different abortion clinics across the country. Of the women surveyed, 957 provided a main reason for having an abortion. This table lists each reason and the percentage of respondents who chose it.
<0.5% Victim of rape
3% Fetal health problems
4% Physical health problems
4% Would interfere with education or career
7% Not mature enough to raise a child
8% Don't want to be a single mother
19% Done having children
23% Can't afford a baby
25% Not ready for a child
6% Other

So...rich young unmarried women are having abortions not because of fetal problems or health issues but because they are "too immature" to raise a child. Wow.

source: http://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are so pro-life, do you support widespread and thorough sex education in schools, and affordable and accessible birth control? Because unwanted pregnancies are the number one reason women have abortions, so if you can prevent those pregnancies, you can decrease the number of abortions. I find it incredulous that so many of my prolife friends do not support these measures, they only want abstinence teachings and think people should have more personal responsibility before they have sex. They don't want their insurance to pay for birth control! As if teenagers or college kids never were impulsive. As if you were never impulsive. As if you never made a mistake. Give me a break. There but for the grace of god go I. Trust other women to make their own choices.

And btw, I don't want my insurance paying for your cialis, viagra or obesity related treatment, because you couldn't "personally responsible" enough to get it up or keep from becoming fat. It's a rude thing to say isn't it? So is denying birth control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'll never understand someone who calls themselves "pro-life" or anti-abortion, but is ok with abortion in the exception of rape. If you think it's a life, isn't it still murder for you?

Ultimately, I don't believe I am qualified to define what is meant by "extreme circumstances" for other women. What about mental/emotional health, and not just physical? Even financial health is important. I am fit to make decisions for myself - but I am unfit to make such permanent decisions for other women. I trust other women to know what's best for themselves and their circumstances. I do not know them better than they know themselves.

Yes, it is still murder. I am pro-choice but I also believe that having an abortion is at its very definition causing human death as I believe that life begins at conception. My being pro-choice and wanting control over my body does not negate the fact that an abortion ends a life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are so pro-life, do you support widespread and thorough sex education in schools, and affordable and accessible birth control? Because unwanted pregnancies are the number one reason women have abortions, so if you can prevent those pregnancies, you can decrease the number of abortions. I find it incredulous that so many of my prolife friends do not support these measures, they only want abstinence teachings and think people should have more personal responsibility before they have sex. They don't want their insurance to pay for birth control! As if teenagers or college kids never were impulsive. As if you were never impulsive. As if you never made a mistake. Give me a break. There but for the grace of god go I. Trust other women to make their own choices.

And btw, I don't want my insurance paying for your cialis, viagra or obesity related treatment, because you couldn't "personally responsible" enough to get it up or keep from becoming fat. It's a rude thing to say isn't it? So is denying birth control.

Yes sure. I am in favor of responsible sex which includes a. not having sex carelessly and b. if you do have sex at say, 14 years old, use protection and know what you are getting into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll never understand someone who calls themselves "pro-life" or anti-abortion, but is ok with abortion in the exception of rape. If you think it's a life, isn't it still murder for you?

Ultimately, I don't believe I am qualified to define what is meant by "extreme circumstances" for other women. What about mental/emotional health, and not just physical? Even financial health is important. I am fit to make decisions for myself - but I am unfit to make such permanent decisions for other women. I trust other women to know what's best for themselves and their circumstances. I do not know them better than they know themselves.

Yes, it is still murder. I am pro-choice but I also believe that having an abortion is at its very definition causing human death as I believe that life begins at conception. My being pro-choice and wanting control over my body does not negate the fact that an abortion ends a life.

So you want to be able to murder a fetus because it is inconvenient to you because of careless mistakes you made. Swell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are so pro-life, do you support widespread and thorough sex education in schools, and affordable and accessible birth control? Because unwanted pregnancies are the number one reason women have abortions, so if you can prevent those pregnancies, you can decrease the number of abortions. I find it incredulous that so many of my prolife friends do not support these measures, they only want abstinence teachings and think people should have more personal responsibility before they have sex. They don't want their insurance to pay for birth control! As if teenagers or college kids never were impulsive. As if you were never impulsive. As if you never made a mistake. Give me a break. There but for the grace of god go I. Trust other women to make their own choices.

And btw, I don't want my insurance paying for your cialis, viagra or obesity related treatment, because you couldn't "personally responsible" enough to get it up or keep from becoming fat. It's a rude thing to say isn't it? So is denying birth control.

Yes sure. I am in favor of responsible sex which includes a. not having sex carelessly and b. if you do have sex at say, 14 years old, use protection and know what you are getting into.

And you believe a 14 year old is mature enough to always be counted upon to make responsible decisions?

You are saying that an individual currently at an age where we hold them less accountable for crimes due to a proven lack of impulse control should be held completely culpable for a non-violent mistake and have it likely wreck their youth and define the rest of their life?

This is why people ask why pro-life doesn't include post womb living. A 14 year old is still a child. What are you doing to help 14 year olds with unwanted pregnancies other than throwing judgmental stones at them?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with you- I think it should be available in cases of abnormalities, rape of a young child etc. . I think it is personal b/c

a) its been marketed to women that they carry and bring life so they should be at the forefront of protecting children born and unborn b) Most importantly a lot of people believe that a child within the womb is just as much a person as one outside the womb and it is murder to end that life in the same way that it is murder to throw an hours old infant in a trash dumpster. Logically they are completely correct and it is gross that abortion of a 4 month fetus is used as birth control to the extent that it is.

I also belong to a faith that says that the soul enters the fetus, not the embryo , so at the beginning of the 2nd trimester and that an embryo as well as an egg or sperm carry the potential for life but are not human. We also don't permit artificial insemination by a man other than one's husband or surrugacy so each faith has its own guidelines and these are very strong. I think that its good that women who begin life begins at conception follow through on that but I think that there has to be just as a push for the welfare of those children and mothers after birth as well and also universal coverage and access, in fact a push, for birth control for couples who will not be be able raise their children independently.

I just think abortion is a serious medical procedure that should be only used as a last resort in horrible unfathomable circumstances and not as a "Oh shit! I forgot my birth control again!" plan B.

Woman hate to hear this but pregnancy and sex is a big deal. Couples should have sex carefully with the knowledge that there is a very real chance of getting pregnant. Do not punish a poor unborn child because of your bad choices.

That's right! That child should be born and suffer his or her whole life from being unwanted and most likely without two actively engaged parents.

What about when birth control fails? Do you know how many married people get abortions, because their families cannot handle another child? Are you saying married people shouldn't have sex even if they are using birth control? Or that they should be forced to always take the risk of having another child (if abortion is not an option), even if they cannot afford one or cannot manage another one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you are so pro-life, do you support widespread and thorough sex education in schools, and affordable and accessible birth control? Because unwanted pregnancies are the number one reason women have abortions, so if you can prevent those pregnancies, you can decrease the number of abortions. I find it incredulous that so many of my prolife friends do not support these measures, they only want abstinence teachings and think people should have more personal responsibility before they have sex. They don't want their insurance to pay for birth control! As if teenagers or college kids never were impulsive. As if you were never impulsive. As if you never made a mistake. Give me a break. There but for the grace of god go I. Trust other women to make their own choices.

And btw, I don't want my insurance paying for your cialis, viagra or obesity related treatment, because you couldn't "personally responsible" enough to get it up or keep from becoming fat. It's a rude thing to say isn't it? So is denying birth control.

Yes sure. I am in favor of responsible sex which includes a. not having sex carelessly and b. if you do have sex at say, 14 years old, use protection and know what you are getting into.

So you are or are not in favor of sex education of a 14 year old? You are or are not in favor of accessible and affordable birth control for all? You are not clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lets look at the statistics.

- In 2013, unmarried women accounted for 85.2% of all abortions (CDC).

- Women in their 20s accounted for the majority of abortions in 2013 and had the highest abortion rates (CDC).

- Adolescents under 15 years obtained .03% of all 2013 abortions; women aged 15–19 years accounted for 11.4% (CDC).

Why do you think this is happening? Why are unmarried women who are presumably not in any condition to raise a child having sex, careless sex?

- The abortion rate of non-metropolitan women is about half that of women who live in metropolitan counties (NAF).

Women in metropolitan areas are generally well off...so rich unmarried young women are having the most abortions...is this not frivolous?

In 2004, the Guttmacher Institute anonymously surveyed 1,209 post-abortive women from nine different abortion clinics across the country. Of the women surveyed, 957 provided a main reason for having an abortion. This table lists each reason and the percentage of respondents who chose it.
<0.5% Victim of rape
3% Fetal health problems
4% Physical health problems
4% Would interfere with education or career
7% Not mature enough to raise a child
8% Don't want to be a single mother
19% Done having children
23% Can't afford a baby
25% Not ready for a child
6% Other

So...rich young unmarried women are having abortions not because of fetal problems or health issues but because they are "too immature" to raise a child. Wow.

source: http://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics

Please show stats for late term abortions. Those are the ones that pro-lifers are currently in the news wanting to ban. My OB has told me how many cases she has every year on average and all were for fetal or mom's health. Those are the wanted babies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand.

I am a middle class 30 year old married woman. I am pro-life but believe in abortion for extreme circumstances such as rape, health of the mother being in danger and possibly fetus abnormalities. I pray and wish to never have to make this horrible decision in my life.

As such, I do not understand why this is such a widespread issue. For most everyday people...they will not have to hopefully deal with it. We don;t all want to abort as a plan B now do we?

1. because it's in a very personal place
2. because it's a heavy decision, one that should be decided by the individual.
3. because we have decades upon decades of men telling us what we (women) can do or not do with our bodies

If YOU don't want to ever have an abortion, then YOU should not have one. But I believe each woman should have autonomy over her own body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Help me understand.

I am a middle class 30 year old married woman. I am pro-life but believe in abortion for extreme circumstances such as rape, health of the mother being in danger and possibly fetus abnormalities. I pray and wish to never have to make this horrible decision in my life.

As such, I do not understand why this is such a widespread issue. For most everyday people...they will not have to hopefully deal with it. We don;t all want to abort as a plan B now do we?

I am pro-choice even though I have never thankfully meeded an abortion. My reasons:

Because a good number of women have been sexually assualted and understand what it would mean if it ped to pregnancy.

Because we know friends or relatives who have needed to have one for medical, financial, or personal reasons and understand it is never a careless decision.

Because we have daughters and hope to god they will never be in a situation where out of desperation they attempt a coat hanger abortion because it has been made illegal.

[Anonymous]

I think that the reason that it's personal for so many women is that the language used to talk about it is ALWAYS personal. Pro-choice people try to have the conversation about medical privacy and body autonomy, and they are often countered - almost immediately - with anti-abortion people calling them murderers, lazy, irresponsible, immoral, etc. It's almost impossible to have a rational conversation with anyone on this issue, because the two sides end up being "Respect my right to make my own medical decisions" and "YOU ARE A MURDERER" right out of the gate.

I'm a 35yo mother who's had an abortion and several miscarriages. Prior to my first pregnancy, I was pro-choice in general, but strongly opposed to "late term abortions" because I believed (as many do) that women should have made their decisions earlier or been more responsible in the first place. I did not understand the reasons that women seek late term abortions. I did not understand the timing issues that come into play when you are talking about ruling out genetic abnormalities. I assumed (as many do) that those abortions were a result of women being in denial about being pregnant or unable to decide to abort earlier. I read a lot. I talked to people who had late term abortions about their experiences. In the end, my mind completely changed.

At this point, I am strongly in favor of unrestricted access to abortion, in conjunction with unrestricted access to birth control and comprehensive science-based sex education in schools. I think it would be really great if every teenager was offered some form of long-lasting birth control by their primary care doctor.

I don't want people to have abortions. I don't want people to get pregnant without meaning to get pregnant. I was on birth control when I got pregnant, and I was so, so grateful that abortion was available to me as a form of birth control when my primary method (very reliable, taken for years with no issue) failed. I do not want people skipping the primary method because they know they can just "take care of it" later if they need to, but I do want the option to be there, to be accessible, and to be affordable for all women who need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I totally agree with you- I think it should be available in cases of abnormalities, rape of a young child etc. . I think it is personal b/c

a) its been marketed to women that they carry and bring life so they should be at the forefront of protecting children born and unborn b) Most importantly a lot of people believe that a child within the womb is just as much a person as one outside the womb and it is murder to end that life in the same way that it is murder to throw an hours old infant in a trash dumpster. Logically they are completely correct and it is gross that abortion of a 4 month fetus is used as birth control to the extent that it is.

I also belong to a faith that says that the soul enters the fetus, not the embryo , so at the beginning of the 2nd trimester and that an embryo as well as an egg or sperm carry the potential for life but are not human. We also don't permit artificial insemination by a man other than one's husband or surrugacy so each faith has its own guidelines and these are very strong. I think that its good that women who begin life begins at conception follow through on that but I think that there has to be just as a push for the welfare of those children and mothers after birth as well and also universal coverage and access, in fact a push, for birth control for couples who will not be be able raise their children independently.

I just think abortion is a serious medical procedure that should be only used as a last resort in horrible unfathomable circumstances and not as a "Oh shit! I forgot my birth control again!" plan B.

Woman hate to hear this but pregnancy and sex is a big deal. Couples should have sex carefully with the knowledge that there is a very real chance of getting pregnant. Do not punish a poor unborn child because of your bad choices.

Having had an abortion for medical reasons, I agree that it is a serious medical procedure. I also believe that in the vast majority of cases it is used as a last resort in difficult circumstances. You are out of your mind if you really think there are a lot of women out there for whom an abortion is just a casual forgot my birth control plan B. Abortion is expensive, difficult to procure (even here in DC I had to wait about 2 weeks to get mine scheduled), time consuming, painful, highly emotional.

In many cases it is more of a punishment to carry an unborn child to term for a life of physical or emotional suffering either because of issues that the child itself has or because of the circumstances into which it will be born. Whether to carry and/or raise a child is a highly complicated decision with an unlimited number of factors to consider. It is best left to the discretion of individual adults who understand and can evaluate their own circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think that the reason that it's personal for so many women is that the language used to talk about it is ALWAYS personal. Pro-choice people try to have the conversation about medical privacy and body autonomy, and they are often countered - almost immediately - with anti-abortion people calling them murderers, lazy, irresponsible, immoral, etc. It's almost impossible to have a rational conversation with anyone on this issue, because the two sides end up being "Respect my right to make my own medical decisions" and "YOU ARE A MURDERER" right out of the gate.

I'm a 35yo mother who's had an abortion and several miscarriages. Prior to my first pregnancy, I was pro-choice in general, but strongly opposed to "late term abortions" because I believed (as many do) that women should have made their decisions earlier or been more responsible in the first place. I did not understand the reasons that women seek late term abortions. I did not understand the timing issues that come into play when you are talking about ruling out genetic abnormalities. I assumed (as many do) that those abortions were a result of women being in denial about being pregnant or unable to decide to abort earlier. I read a lot. I talked to people who had late term abortions about their experiences. In the end, my mind completely changed.

At this point, I am strongly in favor of unrestricted access to abortion, in conjunction with unrestricted access to birth control and comprehensive science-based sex education in schools. I think it would be really great if every teenager was offered some form of long-lasting birth control by their primary care doctor.

I don't want people to have abortions. I don't want people to get pregnant without meaning to get pregnant. I was on birth control when I got pregnant, and I was so, so grateful that abortion was available to me as a form of birth control when my primary method (very reliable, taken for years with no issue) failed. I do not want people skipping the primary method because they know they can just "take care of it" later if they need to, but I do want the option to be there, to be accessible, and to be affordable for all women who need it.

I completely agree with every point made in your very thoughtful post.

I'm sure there are some women out there who blithely get abortions. But it is far from the majority. OP and others seem to think that tons of women are out there having wild sex with abandon, never thinking of birth control, and then saying "oops, better get an abortion, but why bother doing it soon -- I'll just wait until 6 months." That's just not reality for most women. And I don't think the government or any other individual should be deciding what is a bona fide reason or a "frivolous" reason to get one. Most women understand the seriousness of this issue and treat it accordingly.

[Anonymous]

OP - I think that you think you are being very reasonable. After all, you support abortion in the case of incest, rape, fetal or maternal health, right?

You know who doesn't support those exceptions? GOP legislators. Vice-President Mike Pence. President Donald Trump.

So you ask why this is personal? Because I'm a married middle-class mom in my late 30s, and I want to know that safe, legal, abortion care is available if I have an accidental pregnancy that endangers my life and would leave my existing children motherless.

YOU may want to keep those abortions available, but pro-life legislators do not.