36 years after the Roe v Wade decision, abortion remains a hot topic and those on both sides of the issue are steadfast with their opinions.
Before that decision in 1973, women had few options when they became pregnant. In 1969 my best friend got pregnant and gave her little girl up for adoption. In 1970 another close friend, also single, became pregnant and had to travel to California to get an abortion. Her fiance helped pay for the trip and the medical services. The only states offering legal abortions at that time were California and New York. Other alternatives these two had were raising a child society would then label bastard or getting an illegal abortion in unsanitary back rooms.
The decisions each of my friends made were difficult ones. Both anguished over how to handle the pregnancies and both took a great deal of time mulling over the consequences of the final outcome.
The one that chose giving up the child grieved every year on that birth date. The one that chose abortion still carries a feeling of loss and at one time blamed a subsequent miscarriage as God's revenge.
There are no easy answers with unplanned pregnancies, but women need to be able to have safe, legal options to do what they think in their hearts is best for them and their unborn child.
No government should have the right to tell any person what is the best decision for them or their bodies. That includes, not only abortion, but the right to die with dignity, the right to suicide, the right to refuse medical treatment, and the right to donate/sell their own body parts.
amen to that.
ReplyDeletehear, hear
ReplyDeleteYou make a valid argument that the government should not be able to deny a person the right to make decisions about their own bodies. However, abortion does not fall into this category because it affects another human life who isn't being allowed to choose.
ReplyDeleteIn order to avoid that, one must argue that a fetus isn't a human being. Based on what we now know about the development in the womb, I doubt that we can make that judgment call.
Mama: The scientific definition of fetus is generally the beginning of the second trimester. Prior to that it is an embryo. My own personal opinion is that an embryo is not a human being, and a fetus is a human being only when it is old enough to live on its own outside the mother's body (generally at 25-28 weeks).
ReplyDeleteThat is strictly my opinion, and you or others may have differing views. The important thing is that neither you nor I should impose our personal views on someone else through government. These are personal issues that can only be resolved through one's own soul-searching.
Thank you for your imput on this divisive issue.