How Arguments Against Abortion are Flawed

The argument about abortion is very complicated. The argument for and against abortion is something that is discussed greatly. Abortion is a hard and sensitive topic to discuss with a majority of people. Most people have a stance on abortion and have already decided whether they think it is right or wrong. The choice of either being pro-life or pro-choice is a big statement of opinion. There does not seem to be much ground that each side of the abortion argument can agree on. When a woman becomes pregnant, she now has a human life growing inside her body. Pregnancy is something that is extremely life-changing. When a woman wants to get rid of the pregnancy for a variety of reasons, she is making a hard decision. An unwanted pregnancy is not something that should be taken lightly. A woman gets rid of pregnancy for many reasons that are justified. There is a belief from the pro-life side of the abortion debate that women do not have any justifiable reasons for terminating a pregnancy. There are many valid reasons a woman would choose to end her pregnancy and she should be allowed to pick how she wants to continue with her pregnancy.

When a woman has an unwanted pregnancy, she must choose whether she is going to carry the baby to full term or choose to end the pregnancy. People who advocate for a woman to keep the baby and give birth to the child offer another possibility for the baby’s life which is giving the child up for adoption. If a woman cannot afford to raise a child, the option of putting the child up for adoption is something that could be done so that way the woman is not forced to raise a child that she cannot pay for.

A pro-life argument for not letting a woman have control of her unintended pregnancy is that life begins at conception. The controversy stems from whether the genetically unique cells should be considered human beings. This debate is an emotional and passionate discussion. Neither side of the abortion argument thinks they are incorrect and feel as the opposing side’s morals are wrong and flawed.

Rape violates a person and is a horrible thing to happen to someone. Rape is traumatic and can cause long-term negative effects on someone. “About 18 million women have experienced vaginal rape in their lifetime.” (Pregnancy Resulting from Rape)When a woman becomes pregnant because of having non-consensual sex with someone it can be jarring. A woman can view their fetus as a result of the rape and not her baby. Some women have a hard time differentiating the experience of being raped from the baby itself. When a woman becomes pregnant from a rape, she may have long-term effects from the rape such as depression, unstable relationships, and self-destructive behavior. The pro-life argument fails to consider the type of mental state a woman may be in after becoming pregnant with a child from nonconsensual sex. If you force a woman to raise the child that resulted from rape she may not be in the right mental state. A woman can have a hard time forming attachments to the child and viewing the child separate from the experience of being raped. A woman who is engaging in self-destructive behaviors is not a mentally strong person who is ready to raise a child. If a child cannot be loved by their mother because their mom has a hard time forming attachments to the child is not the life that a child deserves. Forcing a woman to raise a child she did not want is something that should be allowed especially when a woman was forced to have sex in the first place. An abortion may be the only option available to the woman that would benefit her mental health, her body, and her overall life.

An argument of the pro-life side of the abortion debate believes that because a fetus can have surgery inside the womb means that the fetus is entitled to the mother continuing the pregnancy and giving birth to the fetus. “Heart surgeries on babies in the womb are being performed as early as 21 weeks gestation.” Being able to perform surgeries on a baby in the womb is a great medical advancement. Surgery performed on the babies who need to have surgery can be very valuable to the mother of the fetus and the fetus. What this argument fails to consider is that the fetus inside the womb cannot have surgery before a certain point in the fetus’ development. A baby is not fully developed before a certain time before they can even consider surgery as an option for the fetus. Just because a fetus can receive a surgical procedure does not make the woman carrying the baby entitled to have the baby.

A fundamental part of human life is having your own body and having full autonomy over your own body. The pro-life argument ignores that everyone deserves to have independence, and everyone deserves to have control over their body. People should be able to make their own decisions. Forcing someone to do something with their own body is violating and is infringing on a person’s rights. A pro-life argument against abortions may talk about the emotions that a woman can feel towards abortion in the future. A pro-life person may say to a woman who wants to get an abortion that she may regret and have uncertainty about it in the future. Emotions are something that constantly changing throughout people’s lives. Emotions are fluid and personal to people. Guessing the emotions that a person may feel in the future is not something that people should create laws over other people’s bodies on. The belief that abortion is uniquely emotionally harmful to the woman who is pregnant, which might be an argument presented by a pro-life person, is not founded on anything. This argument is only speculating that the pregnant woman would feel a certain way in the future.

References

Dr. William R. Lile. “A Patient Is a Person, No Matter How Small.” Family Talk, 31 Mar. 2021, https://www.drjamesdobson.org/blogs/dr-william-r-lile-do-facog/patient-person-no-matter-how-small.

Flanagan, Caitlin. “The Dishonesty of the Abortion Debate.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 12 Nov. 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/12/the-things-we-cant-face/600769/.

“Pregnancy Resulting from Rape.” https://www.jognn.org/article/S0884-2175(15)33527-9/fulltext.

Talbot, Margaret, and Eliza Griswold. “The Study That Debunks Most Anti-Abortion Arguments.” The New Yorker, 7 July 2020, https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/the-study-that-debunks-most-anti-abortion-arguments.

“Understanding Pregnancy Resulting from Rape in the United States |Violence Prevention|injury Center|CDC.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 June 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/understanding-RRP-inUS.html.

“When Human Life Begins.” American College of Pediatricians, https://acpeds.org/position-statements/when-human-life-begins.