During the 2012 elections, one heated topic for discussion was abortion rights/birth control. As a young college student, I have been taking birth control and I find it ridiculous that Romney didn’t want any more government funding on Plant Parenthood. I was fortunate enough to go to my own gynecologist and have them prescribed to me. Some people needed plant parenthood in order to get access to birth control therefore it is the government’s job to look out for all citizens. However we are beyond that now that Obama won the elections.
In 2011, Obama said that starting 2013 Health insurances must cover Birth Control with no copays. This is known as the Affordable Care Act and it is a significant accomplishment. Some people don’t realize that a women getting pregnant can jeopardize her health. If a woman gets pregnant too soon after she just had a baby, it can cause pregnancy complications. Also a woman is at higher risk of having an unwanted pregnancy is she has no access to birth control.
Additionally conservative legislators are making women’s access to abortion care even more difficult. Right now abortion is legal in the United States thanks to Roe vs Wade. I understand the ethical concerns of abortion, personally even though I am pro- choice I would not want to have an abortion unless the circumstances brought me to make that decision. For example if a woman gets pregnant from being raped, who would ever want to give birth to a child that was conceived through pain? However most of the circumstances just involve a woman not being able to take care of the child, accidents just happen. Some people get pregnant even though they were on birth control, so even birth control can’t guarantee not getting pregnant. I do believe however that one shouldn’t bring a child into the world that would just be abandoned and live a miserable life. There is always the option of giving it up for adoption but my fair with ever giving up my child for adoption is that he/she will be given to the wrong family. I’ve heard horror stories of children/ foster kids that were adopted and were raped and tortured by a parent. In that case, abortion before it is a developed child (within 2 months- 2.5 months of being pregnant) is fair and should stay legal.
However, some states are passing laws that restrict access to abortion. For example, Mississippi’s laws could ultimately result in abortion clinic closure due to the new laws. Mississippi laws are targeting abortion providers by making more restrictions on who can operate. Supposedly Mississippi’s abortion clinic uses out-of-state physicians, therefore they can leave to another state in order to perform the operation and the state is trying to prevent that from occurring. They’re claim is that they’re protecting women but others think it is just a way to close the clinic.
On a lighter note, the federal judge ordered the Food and Drug Administration to make the Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill, available to all women of all ages without a prescription. The pill at one point was not available without a prescription if you were under the age of 17, but now it is an over-the-counter drug that anyone under the age of 17 can have access to. Some may argue that this is morally wrong, but the reality is that in today’s society teens are having sex at a younger age. Like I previously stated before it is the governments job to make laws that benefit individuals. Even if a person thinks it is morally wrong that teens are having sex, they can’t punish their acts by allowing them to get pregnant. This act would just benefit girls by preventing an unwanted pregnancy.
http://www.nbc29.com/story/21912855/over-the-counter-plan-b-sparks-medical-conversation
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/state-abortion-laws_n_1684825.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/01/obama-birth-control-health-insurance_n_914818.html
I am also pro-choice, though for me my choice would be to keep the child, but I really do think abortion needs to stay legal in the U.S. There are so many other, valid reasons why a woman should be in control of her body. I didn’t even want to say the word ‘allowed’ there, like it’s a privilege we’ve earned to be able to make decisions about our own bodies. It is our body, and I’m sorry, a child’s life is precious but I don’t think I can fully say life begins at conception. It’s a cell; it’s not able to be alive outside the womb during that certain time period. I just, if I need to make an extremist argument, you should get pregnant every time you are ovulating, so you don’t ‘kill’ that potential of having a child. I also am glad Plan B is over the counter now, certain people go to great lengths (sometimes bad) to solve their problems and this is a much simpler way. We, women, should have all rights to our bodies, should have all access to be able to assert our rights. All these men talk talk talking about rape, abortion, pregnancy, young sex, extramarital sex, could you please shut up? You only ever aim it at women, let us women speak for ourselves. We could also speak for you, if you would prefer? Just gah, ridiculous.
Oh, I just also wanted to say, not every woman would terminate or give up for adoption a child conceived of rape. Some might, some do, some can, but not all. I wouldn’t. I’m sorry, but it seemed like a harsh assumption.
I personally hold the opposing view. I am against abortion and am glad that conservative legislators are making it harder for women to get abortion care, as you said. As pro-life advocate, I truly believe that life begins at conception and any deliberatively abortive act should be considered taking away that life. Some would argue that at conception, it’s still just a clump of cells and not yet a child. However, this can scientifically be disproven. Based on a biological molecular definition, a child is said to have life at the point of fertilization. “Some of the world’s most prominent scientists and physicians testified to a U.S. Senate committee that human life begins at conception” (NAAPC). There’s no denying the fact that life is present. Then some might argue that there’s a certain point where that life begins to matter, and up until that point, it’s acceptable to terminate it. But how can someone determine a specific point? You say that “within 2 – 2.5 months” of pregnancy is an acceptable window. But did you know that a child has a heartbeat as early as 21 days, only 3 weeks after conception? Not even 1 month has passed. Abortion at that point would involve stopping that heartbeat. How is that not taking a life? Then there’s also the argument that a women can do what she wants with her own body. But the child is not part of her own body just because it’s inside of her. It has its own completely different DNA. For arguments sake, let’s say that it is part of the woman’s body and not a separate life. Why then, can a man be convicted for double murder after killing a pregnant woman?
To me, it just seems that the arguments in favor of abortion tend to have some holes.
Here’s an advertisement that I found that I thought was very powerful. Maybe it could get people thinking.
http://www.catholicjediacademy.com/2010/10/my-moms-going-to-kill-me.html
Sources:
http://www.prolifephysicians.org/lifebegins.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prenatal-care/PR00112
http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/12/the-pill-contraceptive-or-abortifacient/266725/
http://www.naapc.org/why-life-begins-at-conception
http://www.realalternatives.org/pregnant/fetaldevelopment.htm
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/06/25/texas-drunk-driver-faces-murder-charge-for-killing-unborn-baby/