This would likely reduce the number of abortions, and if these were actually the positions pro-life people were supporting, I’d have a lot more sympathy and respect for it. Anti-choice positions are morally inconsistent and frequently callous.
While I appreciate someone taking a thoughtful approach to the issue of abortion, it will never be a procedure that will be unneeded. Furthermore, while I understand there is the concept of “unborn children”, not everyone believes it to be an “unborn child” and will not abide by laws that restrict abortion based on that concept. Abortion always needs to be accessible because even in a perfect world, forcing women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term violates her autonomy and body (and the autonomy of her and her partner as a unit, if that is also the case). Thanks for reading!
That people don’t agree that the fetus isn’t an unborn child is no reason not to obey the law(if it exists) regarding abortion. We obey laws that exist, not that we agree with.
False. We obey laws that exist because we agree with them, or at least don’t disagree with them, and because it is reasonable for us to obey those laws that we don’t disagree with and which don’t interfere with our lives in an overly negative way. When laws are unreasonable or when people have good reason, they are regularly disobeyed, so the existence of a law says nothing about the merits of that law and very little about whether or not people will obey it.
For example, people have abortions at pretty much the same rate regardless of whether or not it is legal. If a person needs an abortion and can’t go to a doctor, they’ll scrape out their uterus with a coat-hanger or order some mystery herbs off the internet.
Also, I really don’t care for the body autonomy argument. It works in a limited sense, but consider a case in which a woman sincerely wants to have her nose surgically removed from her face, for whatever reason. It certainly falls under ‘body autonomy’, but she would need to justify such a decision to a doctor, and no credible one would agree to such a procedure- and with practical cause, most people would want to restrict it.
Check out some extreme body modification websites. You’d be amazed at the shit people can get done to their bodies.
In any case, a woman who wants to have her nose surgically removed certainly has the right to if she can find a doctor who will do it. She doesn’t have the right to force a doctor to perform an unnecessary amputation against the doctor’s moral or ethical objections. Abortion is much the same, except that sometimes abortions are medically necessary and life-saving, so that there are foreseeable situations where a doctor’s refusal to provide care could be considered negligent, especially if that failure caused further injury or death.
Simply because you possess a body does not mean you are entitled to do whatever you want with it. Laws against public nudity, urination, or suicide, however we may feel about them, do exist.
Laws against public urination are reasonable in consideration of sanitation. However, laws against public nudity are sexist and, frankly, stupid, while laws against suicide are simply nonsensical. In any case, the existence of a law that violates or infringes upon one’s right to bodily autonomy doesn’t negate the right to bodily autonomy. The right exists; the struggle is to have the right recognized and to eliminate laws and regulations that violate or unreasonably infringe upon it.
Abortion is treated by many on the pro-choice side as an intrinsic good, that a choice made by a woman is always one that benefits women.
This isn’t true. People who are pro-choice have all kinds of opinions on the choices that individual people make. It’s not the choice to abort that is seen as the intrinsic good, and it’s not abortion itself that is seen as always benefiting women*. Being able to make a choice and having more than one option available is what always benefits women*. The choices that individuals make might be good or bad for them individually, but you can’t seriously be arguing that having a choice is somehow bad?
There are similar comparisons that could be made with the sex-positive movement. It’s a narrow-sighted view: the fact that Sarah Palin exists and chose to run for Vice President certainly didn’t help me personally, as a woman, and arguably, not women in general. Simply because a woman chose to have an abortion is not a good enough case to justify it being a good or necessary choice for all women, all the time.
(Source: azspot)
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Inconvenience? You hear that people capable of getting pregnant? This is all merely an inconvenience:
Normal, frequent or expectable temporary side effects of pregnancy:
exhaustion (weariness common from first weeks)
altered appetite and senses of taste and smell
nausea and vomiting (50% of women, first trimester)
heartburn and indigestion
constipation
weight gain
dizziness and light-headedness
bloating, swelling, fluid retention
hemmorhoids
abdominal cramps
yeast infections
congested, bloody nose
acne and mild skin disorders
skin discoloration (chloasma, face and abdomen)
mild to severe backache and strain
increased headaches
difficulty sleeping, and discomfort while sleeping
increased urination and incontinence
bleeding gums
pica
breast pain and discharge
swelling of joints, leg cramps, joint pain
difficulty sitting, standing in later pregnancy
inability to take regular medications
shortness of breath
higher blood pressure
hair loss
tendency to anemia
curtailment of ability to participate in some sports and activities
infection including from serious and potentially fatal disease(pregnant women are immune suppressed compared with non-pregnant women, andare more susceptible to fungal and certain other diseases)
extreme pain on delivery
hormonal mood changes, including normal post-partum depression
continued post-partum exhaustion and recovery period (exacerbated if a c-section — major surgery — is required, sometimes taking up to a full year to fully recover)
Normal, expectable, or frequent PERMANENT side effects of pregnancy:
stretch marks (worse in younger women)
loose skin
permanent weight gain or redistribution
abdominal and vaginal muscle weakness
pelvic floor disorder (occurring in as many as 35% of middle-aged former child-bearers and 50% of elderly former child-bearers, associated with urinary and rectal incontinence, discomfort and reduced quality of life)
changes to breasts
varicose veins
scarring from episiotomy or c-section
other permanent aesthetic changes to the body (all of these are downplayed by women, because the culture values youth and beauty)
increased proclivity for hemmorhoids
loss of dental and bone calcium (cavities and osteoporosis)
Occasional complications and side effects:
spousal/partner abuse
hyperemesis gravidarum
temporary and permanent injury to back
severe scarring requiring later surgery (especially after additional pregnancies)
dropped (prolapsed) uterus (especially after additional pregnancies, and other pelvic floor weaknesses — 11% of women, including cystocele, rectocele, and enterocele)
pre-eclampsia (edema and hypertension, the most common complication of pregnancy, associated with eclampsia, and affecting 7 - 10% of pregnancies)
eclampsia (convulsions, coma during pregnancy or labor, high risk of death)
gestational diabetes
placenta previa
anemia (which can be life-threatening)
thrombocytopenic purpura
severe cramping
embolism (blood clots)
medical disability requiring full bed rest (frequently ordered during part of many pregnancies varying from days to months for health of either mother or baby)
diastasis recti, also torn abdominal muscles
mitral valve stenosis (most common cardiac complication)
serious infection and disease (e.g. increased risk of tuberculosis)
hormonal imbalance
ectopic pregnancy (risk of death)
broken bones (ribcage, “tail bone”)
hemorrhage and
numerous other complications of delivery
refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease
aggravation of pre-pregnancy diseases and conditions (e.g. epilepsy is present in .5% of pregnant women, and the pregnancy alters drug metabolism and treatment prospects all the while it increases the number and frequency of seizures)
severe post-partum depression and psychosis
research now indicates a possible link between ovarian cancer and female fertility treatments, including “egg harvesting” from infertile women and donors
research also now indicates correlations between lower breast cancer survival rates and proximity in time to onset of cancer of last pregnancy
research also indicates a correlation between having six or more pregnancies and a risk of coronary and cardiovascular disease
Less common (but serious) complications:
peripartum cardiomyopathy
cardiopulmonary arrest
magnesium toxicity
severe hypoxemia/acidosis
massive embolism
increased intracranial pressure, brainstem infarction
molar pregnancy, gestational trophoblastic disease (like a pregnancy-induced cancer)
malignant arrhythmia
circulatory collapse
placental abruption
obstetric fistula
More permanent side effects:
future infertility
permanent disability
death.
In addition, there’s the risk of losing one’s job and, by extension, home; pregnancy/childbirth triggering traumatic experiences due to rape, molestation, or partner/spousal abuse; body or gender dysphoria; missing or dropping out of school; the potential trauma of choosing adoption; suffering from pregnancy related job discrimination; the economic toll of pregnancy and raising a child; and not being able to continue taking important medications or exacerbating pre-existing conditions.
Here’s some statistics:
358,000 people die annually from pregnancy related complications.
20% of people who die during pregnancy are murder victims.
The risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescents under 15 years old.
Complications in pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among adolescents in most developing countries.
A person’s lifetime risk of maternal death – the probability that a 15-year-old will eventually die from a maternal cause – is 1 in 4300 in developed countries, versus 1 in 120 in developing countries.
A pregnant person has a 35.6% greater risk of being a victim of violence than a non-pregnant person. The estimated prevalence of violence against people during pregnancy ranges from four percent to eight percent.
40% of all pregnant people have some complications during pregnancy or childbirth. About 15% have complications that are potentially life-threatening.
Tl;dr So in case that wasn’t clear: pregnancy is always life threatening and never merely an “inconvenience”.
[ETA: I wish beyond all belief this edit wasn’t necessary, but I guess it is. This post isn’t meant to vilify pregnancy or the people who choose it. As I’ve said in a reply and an ask, pregnancy is always a valid reproductive choice for those who choose it. As a prochoicer, I support all reproductive choices including birthing ones like advocating for the choice to have VBACs, home births, and the right to say no to unwanted c-sections. I will fight as hard for those rights as I do for the right to an abortion. I don’t think birth is bad for those that want to do it, but some of us would literally rather die. This isn’t meant as a scare tactic against fellow people who can get pregnant. This is about the flippant manner in which cis men like to dismiss people’s concerns that pregnancy is more than an “inconvenience.” The last time I checked people don’t regularly die from inconveniences. For more see: this reply and this ask, which I also made rebloggable on request.]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ludn9tsDQx1r3bzxoo1_1280.png)
