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teleen_fictionI've been thinking about abortion a lot lately and something finally crystallized for me regarding the whole debate. When a woman gets pregnant, there are no guarantees that the fertilized egg will actually become a person. Miscarriage statistics vary widely, but I've known more than one woman who has had one. In truth, I've known more women who have had spontaneous abortions than intentional ones. And even if a woman carries a baby to term, it may still be stillborn, or die soon after birth.
Bottom line: when a woman gets pregnant, there is no guarantee that a new life will enter this world. All there is is the potential for new life.
The woman is already here. The woman is already alive, thinking, feeling and breathing. She may or may not have chosen to get pregnant, but I've come to the conclusion that if someone is truly Pro-Choice, it doesn't matter how she came to be pregnant, only how she feels about being that way.
Some people say it's selfish to have an abortion if the pregnancy comes about because of failed birth control. I say that every person has a right to be selfish where their body is concerned.
In the past I've said that a fetus doesn't count as 'alive' until it takes a breath outside of the mother's body and I stand by that statement. To me, it doesn't matter if it's theoretically viable; until it is no longer 100% dependent upon the woman's body for survival, it is not a life and should not be treated as one by the law for the simple reason that once possible viability is treated as an actual living being, the rights of the woman carrying that being have the potential to become secondary.
In other words, I want to be in favor of laws that prosecute someone who causes a woman to miscarry in her eighth month as a murderer, but that's given something that's dependent upon a woman 100% for its survival the same rights as her and I'm just not cool with that.
I also personally feel that late-term abortion for reasons other than that the life of the mother is in danger or that the baby will only live to suffer is sick, but my feelings don't matter. And neither do yours. All that matters are the feelings of the person who is pregnant and whether she is a person or a broodmare.
A person has the right to decide to stop being pregnant if she wishes to. A broodmare does not. And again, regardless of at what point in the pregnancy she is, I don't believe that we have the right to force a woman to risk her life in childbirth if she decides she doesn't wish to. And childbirth is a risk. Not as big of a risk as it used to be, but still a definite risk. It's a greater risk than abortion is, though the later in the pregnancy it is I think that those numbers even out, but in the first trimester? There's no contesting that a woman is at greater risk from giving birth than she is from the abortion.
Statistics don't matter, though. All that matters is the pregnant woman and what she wants. Period. Her body, her life, her choice, not mine, not yours, NOT EVER. Your opinion doesn't matter and neither does mine. The rights of the born outweigh the rights of the unborn, 100% of the time. Period.
Bottom line: when a woman gets pregnant, there is no guarantee that a new life will enter this world. All there is is the potential for new life.
The woman is already here. The woman is already alive, thinking, feeling and breathing. She may or may not have chosen to get pregnant, but I've come to the conclusion that if someone is truly Pro-Choice, it doesn't matter how she came to be pregnant, only how she feels about being that way.
Some people say it's selfish to have an abortion if the pregnancy comes about because of failed birth control. I say that every person has a right to be selfish where their body is concerned.
In the past I've said that a fetus doesn't count as 'alive' until it takes a breath outside of the mother's body and I stand by that statement. To me, it doesn't matter if it's theoretically viable; until it is no longer 100% dependent upon the woman's body for survival, it is not a life and should not be treated as one by the law for the simple reason that once possible viability is treated as an actual living being, the rights of the woman carrying that being have the potential to become secondary.
In other words, I want to be in favor of laws that prosecute someone who causes a woman to miscarry in her eighth month as a murderer, but that's given something that's dependent upon a woman 100% for its survival the same rights as her and I'm just not cool with that.
I also personally feel that late-term abortion for reasons other than that the life of the mother is in danger or that the baby will only live to suffer is sick, but my feelings don't matter. And neither do yours. All that matters are the feelings of the person who is pregnant and whether she is a person or a broodmare.
A person has the right to decide to stop being pregnant if she wishes to. A broodmare does not. And again, regardless of at what point in the pregnancy she is, I don't believe that we have the right to force a woman to risk her life in childbirth if she decides she doesn't wish to. And childbirth is a risk. Not as big of a risk as it used to be, but still a definite risk. It's a greater risk than abortion is, though the later in the pregnancy it is I think that those numbers even out, but in the first trimester? There's no contesting that a woman is at greater risk from giving birth than she is from the abortion.
Statistics don't matter, though. All that matters is the pregnant woman and what she wants. Period. Her body, her life, her choice, not mine, not yours, NOT EVER. Your opinion doesn't matter and neither does mine. The rights of the born outweigh the rights of the unborn, 100% of the time. Period.
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 10:08 pm (UTC)Like an old friend of mine said, keep your rosary out of my overies.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-16 10:59 pm (UTC)Seriously, I am tired of people who want to make laws and rules regarding stuff that never in a million years will affect them. Other people marrying, women having birth control, women choosing whether to be pregnant, women choosing to get hysterectomy, etc...
Also, I wish people would stop equating first-term abortions to killing the Gerber baby. Hell, during most of the first trimester, it's not even a fetus yet.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 09:46 pm (UTC)Exactly!
Seriously, I am tired of people who want to make laws and rules regarding stuff that never in a million years will affect them.
Same here! It's like if they have to be miserable with their lives and choices, they want everyone else to be as well. Or conversely, they're so happy with the way their lives are, they think that they can legislate that happiness. I tend to believe the first one more than the second one, though, :(.
Hell, during most of the first trimester, it's not even a fetus yet.
Given that it's currently an accepted bit of superstition that you don't tell anyone you're pregnant until after the first trimester because you might "jinx" the pregnancy, I call bullshit on anyone who's against first trimester abortions. Later, I'll argue with you (rather, I'll agree that there could be an argument and will respect that) - that early, I won't even waste my time.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 04:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 09:46 pm (UTC)