Reply to Why is abortion such a personal issue for most women?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

I just want to add on to PPs. I can see people saying, 'if we can prevent one frivolous abortion we should' but I would like to point out that as a society this is not how we work.

When Flint discovered they had lead in their pipes we didn't evacuate the entire town to potentially save the life/exposure of more children. The current refugee ban is saying that the risk of bringing in those people is not worth the benefit (ie, the fact that we would be saving their lives). We make hard decisions at a legislative level every single day (some I agree with and some I deeply disagree with) but at the end of the day the law is designed to make what it believes is the best decision for the most people that are being governed. And history has shown time and time again that outlawing abortion does not stop abortion, it simply makes it more dangerous and results in dead women AND dead fetuses. The best way to reduce abortion is to provide unrestricted access to birth control and prenatal services, have support systems set up for women who might become mothers unexpectedly and yes, provide easy access to safe abortion early in pregnancy. If those systems are in place, than the only people seeking late term abortions will be doing so for medical reasons and should also NOT face bureaucratic hurdles as they make that very difficult choice. [/quote]

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