Abortion: Why I fight for me

In every decision, argument, bill, law, etc. ever made there will always be two sides with differing opinions. Democracy thrives on this principle, and although many of us wish to silence the side we disagree with, I believe that a difference in opinions and the ability for those opinions to be heard strengthens moral character. The ability to hear two sides (our own and another), truly seek for understanding, and then make a decision, helps us either move closer to principles that are correct (should we be wrong in our opinion) or helps us in strengthening our personal resolve in our own opinions with new and added perspective (should we be right).

So today, I wish to give my side of the coin. If you don't agree feel free to challenge it, like I said I believe that two opinions can be a great force for good in the world; a force for either changing hearts or strengthening our own personal resolve. 

Abortion 

Abortion is one of those topics where sometimes it is hard to know where to begin. So I'll begin with a couple scenarios.

Scenario 1: "At 26 weeks 5 days I had an ultrasound done and was sent straight to the hospital. They kept me a few nights trying to control my blood pressure and sent me home on strict bed rest. The next morning my husband rushed me to the hospital and I was immediately put in an operating room. My life was literally on the line as my body was crashing on the operating table. She had to be removed from my body for me to live...Weighing in at just 2 pounds 9 oz, 3 months too early, she fought for her life." News of the babies early arrival quickly spread through the family, as this little baby fought for life; extended family prayed, pleaded, and held their breath hoping that the baby's little body would be strong enough to make it. Prayers were answered, the baby lived, and almost 7 years old now and by the words of her mother "has been living a beautiful life since."

Scenario 2: July 5th 2020, a baby born at 21 weeks gestation entered the world, he weighed 14.8 pounds. The baby lived and his mother in a news report stated that, "being able to finally take Curtis home and surprise my older children with their younger brother is a moment I will always remember" (Link to article).

Scenario 3: "I had a 2-day second trimester abortion at 18 weeks on May 3, 2016. Nothing was wrong with the baby. I just did not care to become a mother, I did not think my sanity could handle giving it up for adoption, and above all else I do not need a reason" (Link to quote).

   

When hearing of all three scenarios I am led to wonder what the true difference is between all three. Had the mother in scenario 3 wanted the child, and given birth to the child; community, family and parents would have celebrated the arrival of a new addition to the family. Had the child been desired, a baby shower might have been thrown, people would have asked mom how she was doing, how the baby is doing etc. 

I am led to believe that the difference between the scenarios comes only at the value that adults placed on the life of the child. Had the child been wanted it would have been seen as a priceless blessing, but because it was not, it was seen as something that could be done away with, something that could be terminated and discarded.

In 2012 in the Journal of medical ethics, abortion advocates argued for what they called "after-birth abortion. The article states that parents, even after the child has been born alive, should be given the option of euthanizing the child should said child "be an unbearable burden for the psychological health of the woman or for her already existing children, regardless of the condition of the fetus." The article concludes with this statement: 

"If criteria such as the costs (social, psychological, economic) for the potential parents are good enough reasons for having an abortion even when the fetus is healthy, if the moral status of the newborn is the same as that of the foetus and if neither has any moral value by virtue of being a potential person, then the same reasons which justify abortion should also justify the killing of the potential person when it is at the stage of a newborn" (After Birth Abortion Article). 

 

In a house of representatives committee meeting, planned parenthood representative pushes for the same act of euthanizing children that have already been born alive but were unwanted.

If such an argument is to be made, stating that a baby causes mom psychological harm or too much stress, I am led to ask myself why the same argument would not be permissible for the life of a toddler or even a teenager.

When we as a society determine that we are the deciding factors for which age group, religion, or race of humans are valuable and beneficial to society and which are not, we become no better than Adolf Hitler. The event that many of us know as the holocaust where over 6 million were killed in concentration camps was allowed due to the belief that people such as the Jews, homosexuals, physically impaired, etc. were deemed a threat to others, of little value, and unworthy of life. What Hitler believed in was the supremacy of the German race. What abortionists believe is the superiority of age group.

It's my body it's my choice

Pro choice advocates who wish to use the phrase "it's by body, it's my choice" are failing to recognize their own personal responsibility in decision making. It is your body and as such, you are 100% responsible for understanding how a baby is created. In all cases except for rape and incest (which only constitutes 1.5% of abortions (Stats)) women and men knowingly made a choice to participate in sexual activity that had the potential of leading to pregnancy. It is your body, and it was your choice to participate in activity that led to the creation of a life, a risk you knew you took.

Men should not be making decisions about women's bodies:

Many use the phrase "Men should not be making decisions about women's bodies" and you are right. In participating in sexual activity there should be consent from both sides, the man and the woman. Men that take away the right to choose through sexual offense should be prosecuted and punished. Sexual offenses cause great psychological, emotional and often physical damage, and forces an action upon a woman that she never would have chosen to make. 

In the case of abortion advocates, however, this phrase is often used to state that men shouldn't be allowed to fight for or against abortion practices. Women who use this phrase in trying to advocate for abortion should realize that a quick google search will show you that by definition a body is "the physical structure of a person or an animal, including the bones, flesh and organs;" and that by scientific evidence a baby has developing organs (constitutes a body) by 6 weeks of age with most organs being fully developed by 10 weeks in the womb; therefore constituting a human body. As men fight for or against abortion, they are not fighting about a woman's body, they are fighting for or against the body and life of a human child; and they should have every right to make that fight.

Regarding the Law

On December 3, 2021 a man by the name of Jackson shot and killed his girlfriend, the girlfriend was 18-20 weeks pregnant. Jackson was charged with two accounts of first degree murder one account for the death of the girlfriend and the second account for the unborn child. (Story) In events such as these, where criminal activity causes the termination of life for both a mother and her unborn child, offenders are often charged with double homicide. Why? Because not only was the mother a human that had the right to life, but so was the infant that she carried.  

Why I fight against abortion

So you may ask me why I believe the way I do, and my answer would have to be this; I am a woman who recognizes that when we start to decide which humans live and which don't, we not only lose our humanity but we also lose stability and control in our societies. In 2019 I visited a Jewish Holocaust Museum in the heart of Atlanta Georgia. There I read a poem that went like this: 

"First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me."

I fight for the unborn because I fight for me. I fight for life because I realize that when my society decides who is valuable and who is not, they can just as easily do the same to me. I fight for the unborn because I fight for the unborn women and men who will lead our world. I fight for them, because they will be the society that I expect to fight for me, when I am to old to do so myself. I fight for the unborn because I don't believe in superiority, because I believe that truly every man and every woman are created equal and that each is endowed with certain unalienable rights, one of those rights being the right to life.