Imagine A World With Few Abortions

Rachel Lucas wrote a treatise on abortion today. I don't know if she came over and read my reaction to Amanda Marcotte on the topic or not, but she did mention stupid comments, so I'm guessing she might have, because you people are still going strong. I admire your stamina even if the arguments seem tired at this point. I'll try to sum up Rachel's opinion in one (OK three) paragraph and this is tough to do, you need to go read her whole opinion:

But the second reason I see abortion as anathema to how I want to live my life shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s read this site for long: personal responsibility. To me, the vast majority of abortions (in the U.S., that’s all I’m talking about here) are a direct result of an utter failure to behave in a rational, responsible, thoughtful fashion.

If you don’t want to be pregnant, then don’t get pregnant.

Easy to say, right? Yep. It’s also pretty easy to DO, at least for me, because I fancy myself a sentient human being with a functioning brain, and as such, I enjoy making decisions that result in pleasant outcomes for me and everyone I care about. Failing to prevent pregnancy while knowing full well that I don’t want pregnancy would be an irrational behavior, not to mention fantastically immature and shortsighted.

Now, I indirectly alluded to personal responsibility myself when I discussed the issue of shame:

Society benefits that shame is associated with "the right to choose." Is there no shame anymore? Even with the shame, far too many people engage in sex without thought and consideration of the consequences that can result in another being paying the ultimate price for momentary pleasure. Removing the shame would simply increase the number of abortions and multiply the regret of many more people, who, stopped by their conscience, opt to have a child and make it work instead of choosing abortion.

What I didn't directly note is why someone should be ashamed, but Rachel covered the topic handily. It is embarrassing to be so stupid that you'll have unprotected sex resulting in a baby. I mean, how dumb can you be?

Let me use my own life as an example. Around November of last year, a new notion hit me like a ton of bricks. I suddenly, clearly realized that I did not want to have more children. Period. The maternal switch flipped, even though I had always imagined having four kids, and I was done. Finito. I simply did not want any more children. Period. Guess what I did? I took serious precautionary measures because I'm fertile Myrtle. I think "baby", my body throws an egg and starts looking for sperm hiding out in the folds of my fallopian tubes. Now, I know it doesn't work that way for most people, but I'm one of those ladies. My daughter was conceived two days after my period ended. The computer model said that the chances I was pregnant was O%. Um, right. My son was conceived days after I was supposed to have ovulated. And yet, here he sits, watching Little Bear. So, I take precautions. And I take them seriously.

When I was first married, I did NOT want kids right away. I had plans. So, I went to Planned Parenthood, got the pill and made my husband glove up. Yes, I'm obsessive. But you know what? I knew, like Rachel knows, that I would never have an abortion. And yes, I've had two scares, serious ones. Make that three scares. I have literally ran screaming into the bathroom and hosed myself off, knowing damn well if the deed was done, the only thing I succeeded in doing is make myself look ridiculous. I would have had a baby and I would have made it work and it would have complicated my life. But it would be my responsibility.

Abortion (except in cases of rape and the health of the mother, as Rachel notes consists of only 7% of abortions combined, oh hell, I'll just quote the stats too):

Before I go any further with this, please note:

Women with family incomes less than $15,000 obtain 28.7% of all abortions; Women with family incomes between $15,000 and $29,999 obtain 19.5%; Women with family incomes between $30,000 and $59,999 obtain 38.0%; Women with family incomes over $60,000 obtain 13.8%.

1% of all abortions occur because of rape or incest; 6% of abortions occur because of potential health problems regarding either the mother or child, and 93% of all abortions occur for social reasons (i.e. the child is unwanted or inconvenient).

47% of all abortions are performed on women who have had at least one previous abortion.

Abortion is an admission to being short-sighted, frivolous and way too immature to be having sex. But the immaturity comes from all sorts of places. An acquaintance has a daughter who um, enjoys male companionship. A lot. Let's just leave it at that. She is of the religious persuasion that makes her find birth control problematic. The disconnect astonishes me. My advice was simple: Put the girl on something. You won't prevent STDs, but you might be lucky enough to avoid having to raise another baby or be faced with a more morally difficult situation like her deciding to abort a baby. I've talked before about parental denial--this came up when talking about Obama's blabbing about his daughters and not wanting them to be "punished with a baby". Parents need to remember their own drives and behavior.

And yet, with all this, I hold on to an ideal. To me, the ideal is to wait until you're married to have sex and to stay faithful to your mate. I object to abortion on a moral basis, not just the ethical one mentioned above. Life to me is a sacred gift. And the acceptance of abortion has moral implications for other stages of life. I have a child who survived at 24 weeks gestation. People abort at this point, still. He survived. I'm looking at him picking his nose right now, in fact. I have friends who could have been taken off life support, but someone held on for them and they lived.

Life is worth saving, because some day, should it come down to it, I want someone to want me to live. I've said it before, DO NOT PULL THE PLUG until all options are exhausted. Life is good and worth saving. And this goes to the cases of a woman being put in the position of deciding to abort to save her own life. I've known two women who had cancer and both were told to abort the baby. One chose to and the other induced around 26 weeks. Both ladies survived. It was the right choice for both of them. Obviously. So we can just throw that straw man out.

And then there is rape. I support life. And so, I support adoption. I also support the morning after pill in these cases. Absolutely. 100%. Why does abortion need to come into this equation either? Of course a woman should have the opportunity to create a hostile uterine environment so she doesn't have to carry a baby to term when she's been raped.

For the 93% of women having abortions, there's no excuse. Stupid is not an excuse. It's an explanation. And I don't understand why the feminists want to wear abortion like it's some badge of honor. What it is is a blaring trumpet of stupid. Who wants to be proud of unthinking?

Every day, there are 4,000 abortions. Every year, over one million babies are aborted. Since abortion became legal, 40 million abortions have occurred. Please don't tell me this is a good thing. These are elective, unnecessary procedures that could be wholly prevented. It's like the dude who smoked five packs a day and gets lung cancer. You feel bad for the guy, but his pain was entirely preventable. Abortion doesn't need to happen. It is a moment acknowledging regrettable limited intelligence, vision and wisdom.

Ultimately, abortion is a crying shame.