Neither is root canal, but I’m glad it’s an available procedure. I’ve never heard anyone argue that abortion is some amazing thing. The author’s story is a wonderful personal anecdote but I don’t see how it serves as an argument against making abortion legal and readily accessible. Denying women access to abortion has real term consequences that far outweigh these personal stories. If my mother had had an abortion because:
- she was a victim of a rape of which she did not want to be reminded on a daily basis.
- already had children she couldn’t afford to take care of
- she wasn’t ready to be a mother
- Any other reason
I wouldn’t be here today responding to your comment, but let me just say, I would be totally sympathetic and understanding of her decision. Like time travel, contemplating what would not have happened — who your husband would have married and what kind of children he would or would not have had is an abstract concept, as are the consequences of every decision one makes over a lifetime. Her husband would have married someone else and had other children who would have been wanted and loved. So her non-existence wouldn’t have had a significant ripple. What if I hadn’t quit my job in 1988 to go to Nicaragua? How would my life have turned out? What’s the point in speculating?
The people crafting these strict anti-abortion policies aren’t interested in the very real consequences of criminalizing abortion. If they did, they’d be focusing on providing affordable healthcare, proper nutrition, well-funded public schools, housing, maternity leave for mothers and providing a safety net for those sacred lives they purport to care so much about. Instead, they’re suspending eviction moratoriums and cutting off funding for everything except DOD. We have the world’s highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation and are second only to South Africa in incarceration. We are the world’s leader in gun violence of any nation not at war. Those are some real consequences. One would have to be a complete moron to believe these laws have anything to do with preserving human life.
Some victims of rape, like the author’s mother choose to keep the product of that rape. And that’s the entire point — they had the choice.