I’d rather not be writing this today. I’d rather not leap into the abortion wars with yet another — angry — opinion piece.
The more we argue the contentious social issues of the day (same sex marriage, gun safety, race) the more folks on both sides of the culture wars feel they need to dig in, double down, and throw verbal spit wads at each other. So — I’d rather not get swept up in the arguments.
When it comes to the abortion issue, however, I get adamant. I get noisy.
That’s because I absolutely, unequivocally support a woman’s right to control what goes on in her body.
Forced to Remain Pregnant
As I see it, denying a woman a safe and legal abortion is tantamount to forcing her to be pregnant against her will — which makes that the act of denying her an abortion is a form of assault.
I’ll say it again.
Requiring a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term is taking control of her body — by force. It is an assault on her agency as a person, as a human being. It is, quite literally, an assault on her body.
The Abortion Wars
I’m a knee jerk moderate on most issues. I can see, for example, why it might be unfair for a person born with the long bones and heavy muscles of a male to compete against people born with the lighter bones and musculature of a female. Might! But I can also see why a person who deeply believes themself to be a woman would want to be accepted as a woman.
I know people who like to hunt and might feel safer with a rifle or a handgun in the house. I’m good with that. But an AK-47?
I think affirmative action is a great way for colleges and universities to increase diversity on their campuses. But I worry that quotas are subject to abuse. And they’re probably unconstitutional. (If that word constitutional means anything anymore.)
But when it comes to the abortion wars, I am inflexible. A woman has an absolute right to terminate a pregnancy for any reason (Until late in the pregnancy, that is, when the fetus is likely to be viable, and arguably has rights of its own).
Chicken Fetus? Or Human?
When does a human fetus become a human being?
In my embryology class at the University of Michigan some years ago, we compared chicken fetuses, pig fetuses and human fetuses — they all looked pretty much alike for most of their gestations. Which squirmy worm was the human fetus and which the chicken? It was nearly impossible to tell.
When, then, does the chicken end and the human begin? I don’t know.
Pro-Life and Pro-Choice
The truth is, I’m both pro-life and pro-choice.
Jon and I adopted our oldest child. And I’m going to publicly thank his birth mother one more time, right now, for making the choice — young and frightened as she was — to give birth to that little boy and put him in my arms one snowy January day. What a gift.
I wish more women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy would consider adoption. Thousands of childless people all over the U.S. are yearning for the chance to adopt a baby. Life is a gift a woman can give — to that child and to those would-be parents.
Yet — when it comes to the politics of the thing, I am fiercely pro-choice. A woman, a couple, should not be forced to give birth to and care for an unplanned child.
But more to the point, for me, no woman should have to be pregnant. No woman should have to endure being pregnant — against her will.
Pregnancy is disruptive to a woman’s body. Pregnancy and childbirth involve risks. A woman is more likely to die giving birth than she is to die from a safe, legal abortion.
And so, I’ll say it one more time: forcing a woman to continue a pregnancy is a form of assault.
More on the abortion question at “Unmarried and Pregnant in Mid-Century America.” Also, here’s a piece noting that, in the past, the pro-life movement did not seek to prosecute a woman who undergoes an abortion: “Donald Trump Outs the Elephant in the Pro-Life Room.” Today, as politicians who claim to be pro-life become more and more fervid, that genteel tradition might be on its way out.
I agree with you Barbara, but what I also find irritating is that people will argue, FREEDOM till the cows come home about the government requiring a vaccine but then argue that the government has the right to force someone to carry a pregnancy with the risks to term. Where is the freedom of women here?
Sigh. So true.
Well said. You were thoughtfully and passionately. I don’t see how anyone could disagree with any of it, but someone will. Please keep writing. It is an important life saving issue. I am pro women’s life.
Yes! Pregnancy and childbirth are risky, even today.
Barbara, You have said it so well! I hadn’t viewed the denial of the right to abortion as an assault. But it certainly is, in all the ways you stated. I also am angry at the “pro life” movement, who are among those who vote against universal health care and universal child care… against paid family leave… all those protections that support the care of children in our society. Pro life until birth.
Thanks for making those points. There must be some consensus we could find somewhere on making health care and family leave more available. At my job at the Oakland Tribune, I was guaranteed under our union contract a six-month unpaid leave. I didn’t get paid for the time I took off, but I was guaranteed that I would get my job back at the end of that six months. That was huge –just knowing I wouldn’t lose my job by taking some time off. Maybe arrangements like that are a place to start.
Well said! My thoughts exactly!! Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day, Dierdre!
Thank you, Barbara. I’m a product of parents who adopted me, and a woman who gave me up for that adoption. And, yes, she and all women should be able to choose what to do with their pregnancies..
Wonderful to know this. Thanks!
Barbie. Remember that the Roe v Wade opinion allows states to “force” a woman to remain pregnant after the third trimester begins… Contentious and dubious “constitutional” rights may be better dealt with by the form of government we had thought was least likely to be unfair and productive of civil unrest: representative democracy. Fiat governance by the enlightened few, while great when it goes in our favor, turns out to be pernicious when it doesn’t.
Ted ( a “Pro-Choice opponent of Roe”)
Yes, some lawyers I know say that Roe is on shaky legal ground. But it seems to me that the constitution guarantees citizens “liberty,” and that should guarantee a woman the right to choose… But if I understand you correctly, giving a panel of justices the authority to determine what is “constitutional” gives them too much authority over citizens and what they can and can’t do… If Jon were alive right now he’d be complaining, once again, about the electoral system, which often squelches the will of the majority, which it did in this case.
As for the legislation approach — I don’t feel that my fellow citizens, half of them male, have the right to legislate my right or lack thereof to an abortion. The right to control one’s own body is inalienable — unassailable — and not something that a democratic majority can give or take away. So maybe we are stuck with the courts and, at the moment, those politicized supreme court justices.
We have lots of rights we consider unassailable — deciding where to live, whether to take a particular job, whether to marry, whether to travel abroad. The constitution does not mention any of these rights — maybe because they are inalienable and not in need of overtly stated protection in the constitution.
Nicely said. Adoption can be wonderful for families. My sister was adopted because a woman made a choice to not abort, but knew she couldn’t raise the baby.
I have a cousin who did the same. Happy Mother’s Day, Barbara.
Happy Mother’s Day to you, too!