This article is in response to the article titled “The unborn deserve the right to life” published in the issue dated Dec 19, 2021 because the rights of the unborn rest in the arms of a mother.
Roe v. Wade established that the choice of abortion is a woman’s right without excessive government restriction. Now, the landmark case is under fire with the change in Supreme Court Justices appointed under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The choice to an abortion is a woman’s right in all cases regardless of conception. In no way is this a decision any woman makes lightly–the decision to undergo an abortion is never forgotten. It should never be referred to as a decision based on inconvenience.
Because a fetus relies on its mother for potential life, a fetus is simply an extension of a woman’s body. Therefore it is her right to bodily autonomy to terminate her pregnancy. It is morally incorrect to force a woman to endure an unwanted pregnancy without consent.
Whether the fetus is a form of human life or not does not and cannot dictate whether termination of pregnancy is morally permissible. No human life can utilize another human life as life support. Pregnancy is objectively an emotional, mental, and physical sacrifice on the mother’s part, and it is morally incorrect to force this sacrifice on a woman. Sacrifice is a choice.
The line is not drawn at conception but drawn when the fetus is able to survive without reliance on a mother’s body. At this point, termination of the fetus is immoral. Regardless, termination of the pregnancy remains moral.
The unborn do deserve the right to life. But never at the expense of bodily autonomy. Never at the expense of a woman’s consent.
The concept applies in every case, from cases of rape to expected pregnancy in marriage. There is no concept of equilibrium or circumstantial decision involved in the question of abortion. Every woman reserves the right to make decisions over her own body regardless of the potential life it may harm.
The overturn of Roe v. Wade will indeed decrease abortion rates across the nation, but it will not decrease “lives” removed from the nation. Desperate women will discover how to undergo an abortion whether or not it is legal. Oftentimes, illegal abortions result in the deaths of both the women and termination of the fetus. We cannot force a woman to undergo state-forced pregnancy because at the end of day, the sole purpose of her life is not reproduction.
To me, it is foolish to believe that the premise of the pro-choice argument is that the “birth canal magically grants personhood.” The pro-choice argument fights for the rights of a woman and for quality of life. If a mother cannot support a fetus throughout a pregnancy in any capacity, she reserves the right to terminate her pregnancy.
To me, it is foolish to believe that conception is the clearest line to defend, but it is certainly the easiest.
To me, it is foolish to believe that the innocent, valuable life of a fetus takes precedence over the innocent, valuable life of a mother.
A pregnancy impedes a woman’s livelihood and physical health, and for that, she reserves the right to end a life that relies on her own.
