The Abortion Plan
For reasons I will not disclose, over the past few days I have had to do a lot of thinking about abortion. (To clarify, no one I know is considering having an abortion. I am dealing with the subject on an entirely theoretical level.) Normally, I try not to think about abortion, but since I've had to, the following is my vision for reducing the number of abortions in the United States without making abortion illegal. I don't know if any of these recommendations would actually make a difference, but I've done my best.
Restrict late-term abortions. In my opinion the matra that abortion should be "safe, legal, and rare" is lacking. I would change it to "safe, legal, rare, and as early as possible." Late-term abortions are gruesome and, in some cases, border on infanticide. Of course, any legislation restricting such abortions needs to make provisions for when the life of the mother is at risk. Otherwise the law will (and should) be ruled unconstitutional.
The "morning-after pill" is a difficult subject, but an important one. I personally feel that terminating a pregnancy before one knows whether conception has taken place is morally preferable to terminating a pregnancy after, say, 18 weeks. If you were to ask me, "Josh, when do you think human life technically begins?" I don't know that I could answer you. But I would argue that, ethically, not allowing a clump of cells to develop into a baby is significantly different than ending the life of a fetus that has developed human attributes and a relationship (of sorts) with its mother. For this reason, I feel that the "morning-after pill" should be readily available and easily accessible. On the other hand, post-coital contraceptives should not be recommended as a means of birth control. Moral questions aside, the "morning-after pill" is not as effective as other methods of contraception and, obviously, does not prevent sexually transmitted diseases.
Educate the public about the early stages of pregnancy. In many western countries the "morning-after pill" is not considered a means of aborting a pregnancy, but a means of contraception. Why? Because, while post-coital contraceptives do not prevent eggs from being fertilized, they do strip the lining of the uterine wall, often preventing fertilized eggs from implanting. So, fertilization and implantation are two distinct steps that must take place for an egg to become a baby. Some people feel that conception takes place when the egg is fertilized; others feel that it takes place when the egg is embedded in the womb-lining. Educating the public about these matters will enable women who fear that they have been unintentionally impregnated, as well as voters and policy-makers, to draw informed conclusions about when life begins (though these conclusions will vary from person to person).
Strictly define and condemn date rape. Some sources say that only one percent of abortions are sought in response to rape. I question this statistic, only because different people have different definitions of rape. Some women who have been forced into sexual intercourse against their will by a husband or boyfriend do not consider themselves rape victims. Some women who, by my standards, are clear victimes of rape, blame themselves for an unintended sexual encounter, feeling that they "led on" the rapist. I suspect (and I have no hard evidence to back myself up, so I could be completely wrong) that most instances of date rape go unreported and that many are not even considered rape by the victim herself. I have no information about the number of pregnancies resulting from date rape, but date rape is certainly responsible for some unwanted pregnancies. As a culture, we need to strictly define and condemn date rape and educate American youth about the subject. Those who feel strongly that women should not dress in a manner that is sexually suggestive need to be clear that, regardless of how a woman dresses, she is not guilty if she is raped.
Take measures to eliminate poverty. Poor women are three times more likely than affluent women to have an abortion. Though there is no direct link connecting poverty to abortion, poverty affects education, healthcare, self-respect, means of escaping abusive relationships, and other factors that may influence one's response to an unintended pregnancy. For one idea on fighting poverty in America, see my "Fair Wage Plan".
Admit that abortion is too common. According to some estimates, over one-fourth of pregnancies end in abortion. Advocates of reproductive choice need to be able to say that abortion is too prevalent without worrying about sliding down a slippery slope toward government control of women's bodies. One can support reproductive choice and, at the same time, see a need to reduce the number of abortions in the United States.
posted by Tinley | 9:48 PM
2 Comments:
Sounds like you're really giving this a lot of thought and not just gravitating toward one established camp or the other. I'd love it you'd start coming to my blog and contribute to the discussion.
Hi Josh,
I have been meaning to comment on your "Abortion Plan" but haven't had the time to re-read and contemplate it. Good news! I want be screaming or judging, just offering some insight on what you have proposed. Because of how this issue has affected my life personally it has acquired a lot of time and attention from me.
First, as a background I reject the notion that any right guaranteed to anyone is without any responsibility to society at large. This is true when that canard of a "women's right to choose" is introduced. Long before the government could possibly deny that right they can insist on personal accountability in the exercise of that right. Second, it isn't the mother's right alone, it is the parents right regardless of marital status. However, since it is the women who carries a pregnancy she can exercise that right when respect is paid to the genetic partner involved. That is the immediate interest in accountability that society should impose on a woman.
Restriction of Late Term Abortion: your idea is very reasonable and it is understood that any law regulating abortion procedures should have the life of the mother respected. Blanket bans on various abortion procedures have never been appropriate. But it does go without saying that the circumstances under which a woman's life is at risk are very rare. More importantly, a threat to her life should not be so liberally misconstrued to the point that it is just a matter of her "quality of life".
Morning After Pill and Public Education:
I don't think the public is that uneducated about this issue at all. It is quite a dispute between very knowledgeable people whether or not the MAP is an abortificient or "post-coital contraceptive". It is promoted under the guise of contraception but that simply isn't true. It kills the life form in it's earliest developing stages by destroying the host lining necessary for it to continue it's development. The term pregnancy is first used once the implantation takes affect, but that does not mean that conception has been prevented. Likewise, it isn't true that this human life form is a clump of cells. That term is used to misdirect the attention from the fact that we are talking about the beginning of a human person. The cells are quite organized and evolving in a very pre-programmed way. When we can de-humanize the tiny entity we can de-sensitize ourselves to the reality of what is happening. Truly, there isn't a difference between aborting late-term and aborting this early in the pre-natal process as far as disrupting the natural outcome. Only when we can see something that is more familiar to us do we begin to empathize with the sanctity of this life. That says more about us then it does the life that we terminate.
Date Rape:
This is a very good point and one that deserves to be joined with similar concerns. Anytime a woman becomes pregnant we know that she was either a willing or unwilling participant in coital intercourse. When underage girls present themself for an abortion it is always a concern for society and her parents as most States recognize that who ever impregnated her has committed a crime. Indeed, very women of legal age crime often surrounds the circumstances of their unwanted pregnancy. Before receiving an abortion society has an interest in learning all that it can to ensure that an injustice against the woman is investigated and dealt with. That doesn't mean forcing charges against her wishes but making it clear to her the availability of help, support, and justice if she wants it. The privacy issue in this matter has been too overplayed. Discretion can be used to give her more options. One thing that is absolutely necessary is that DNA from the dead fetus be kept for future use in prosecutions or custody disputes for the benefit[1] of either parent of the aborted child.
Poverty:
I am glad that you mentioned this, though any particular solution any of us might have would likely be inadequate. Poverty doesn't necessarily increase the number of abortions, but abortions do not necessarily cure poverty - a claim for the therapeutic virtue of the procedure. It is quite likely that more "poor" women are pushed into abortion then more affluent ones because of the poverty cure premise. The condition of poverty at the time of conception does make the mothers life more difficult in the immediate sense, but it is what she does, along with societies help, that most determines her ability to be materially self-sufficient in the long run. This is the area where men have been too long absent. The fathers of unwanted children have obligations and should suffer financial consequences even if the mother chooses abortion. Laws should be conducive to voluntary paternal support without opening men up to later exploitation. Within the religious community we need to get men involved on the frontline of material support for un-wed mothers. When as a society the women can feel assured that the men will support them in childbirth and the raising of the children we will have greatly reduced one of the significant reasons for abortion.
Within the Church we need to do a better job of promoting the virtue of childbearing to our young people. Regrettably we don't stress the positive opportunities that pregnancy can provide both mother and father. In our society we place more emphasis on our youth attaining higher levels of education and career development at the expense of basic life affirming skills used in parenting. Spiritually one of the blessings of parenthood is the depth of spiritual growth that it prompts. These attitudes, more than any other reason, are what pushes young women to abort. We put social status ahead of human dignity.
The secular pro-choice philosophy would have us believe the issue is an all or nothing affair and we either grant the right to abort without condition or we ban all abortions. If there is a mainstream view on the issue I doubt it would be seen in such black and white terms. Most people recognize the very rare but real conflict of life with life that gives rise to the ethical use of the abortion procedure. But that is not the overriding concern when seeking to limit and regulate the practice of abortion in our society. We have to acknowledge our disrespect for life in the matter and seek to do better.
I think the idea of applying for permission to abort in this country has to be the basis upon which we can make realistic laws. Due process doesn't necessarily curtail the right to choose. It can be assumed that permission will be granted but that all concerned parties are properly involved in the choice and that in some circumstances restitution is made to either genetic partner in the interest of justice.
[1] In this case the law should be written such that government cannot use the evidence against either parent for any reason. The benefit provision is important as to the intent of keeping and sharing this very private information. A clear exception is necessary for suspected cases of rape, especially of a minor, where the perpetrator can be identified by his paternity traced to the DNA. As I write this a young woman is in the hospital after attempting suicide. A Judge declined to convict her father on charges of raping her because the child conceived would have been the only evidence available. For the young woman this compounded her guilt and sorrow since she had previously sought out an abortion to deal with the unwanted pregnancy. The current pro-choice position would negate the possibility of capturing evidence of a crime simply because they insist on absolute privacy for the abortion procedure.
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