Open Your Minds America

The coexistence of opposite and conflicting feelings about abortion is centuries old. Disagreements between public policy, morality and individual behavior on this issue existed even at the time of Plato and Aristotle. In the past few decades abortion issue has been brought into sharper focus and has been vigorously debated. A number of factors are responsible for this but perhaps the major one has been that associated with the sexual revolution which accentuates freedom in all matters sexual and in spite of or even because of the tremendous and indiscriminate increase in the distribution of contraceptives. It is a very significant issue in our society today because I believe that it is truly dividing the citizens of this country and I do not want to change anybody’s views, but I think that America is learning to be more open minded to the things that are inevitable and this procedure, in my opinion, is inevitable.

Since the late 1960's, abortion has been shifting from a predominantly illegitimate status toward a more legitimate one. Several cases have been fought for the right to choose. Many of these have been hard cases with very personal feelings, but the perseverance showed through and gives us the rights we have today. In 1965 Griswold v. Connecticut upheld the right the right to privacy and ended the ban on birth control. Eight years later, the Supreme Court ruled the right to privacy included abortions. In Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court stated that it is the women's right to have an abortion if she so chooses. In Jan 1988 the abortion section of the Criminal Code of Canada was struck down in Morgentaler decision. American women today have among the highest rates of unplanned pregnancies and abortions of all industrialized countries. Chances are more than 2 in 5 that an American woman will have an abortion sometime in her lifetime. Although the total number of abortions, 1.6 million a year, performed in the United States and the rate of abortions among American women has remained relatively constant, more married women are getting abortions, according to recent surveys.

Most arguments against granting women the right to abortion are based on religious and moral prohibitions, defending the sanctity of human life. Opponents of abortion rely on the premise that the fetus is a human being, a person from the moment of conception. Anti-abortionists proclaim that they are pro-life. However, they spend so much time establishing that the fetus is a person and therefore has a right to live that they forget about mothers’ rights or simply ignore her existence. The word "murder" is often used by pro-lifers to describe abortion. Murder means deliberate and unjustified killing of another person containing intent. How can anybody see an evil intent in a woman's decision to interrupt pregnancy if it is a result of rape or incest? A woman cannot bear the thought of having a child that would be a constant reminder of what had happened on such and such a day, such and such number of years ago. She doesn't want to kill a baby; she wants to interrupt the growth of an embryo so that it will not become a baby. She interrupts potential life. But potential life is just that, potential. It is interesting to note that these same people, who place so much emphasis on protecting the fetus, seem to care so little about what happens to children after they are born. The vast majority oppose government welfare programs to help support needy and dependent children. These people are also in favor of the death penalty and see the killing that goes on during war as justified and noble. My personal belief is that each woman should have a right to decide whether she wants to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. For reasons of women's right to self-determination, protection of their health, adequate care of children which are born and in order to prevent child abuse and mental disease, easy access to abortion is a must.

Most abortions occur because contraception failed, because of a rape or because of a serious medical condition of the mother which could lead to her death. In these situations abortion is often the only way that prevents the birth of an unwanted child or saves a mothers life. Large percentages of women who have to deal with unwanted pregnancies are teenagers. Pregnancy often has catastrophic effects on adolescents. They drop out of school, have nervous breakdowns, and even commit suicide. It is also unsafe for them to go through with pregnancy. Many teenagers cannot provide the right conditions for raising a child for they are children themselves. Having a baby will often mean an end of future career, poverty and complications in health. Another issue is when pregnant women are older. They no longer feel prepared to shoulder an obligation of motherhood. Most of these women already have grown-up children and sometimes even grandchildren. From medical point of view their health is also in danger: "Probability of complication during childbirth and congenital malformations in the offspring increases significantly after the age of forty. It is estimated that about twenty five percent of Mongoloid children (Down's syndrome) are born to mothers over forty" (Morgentaler, 34).

The issue of rape has to be considered when we discuss the importance for women of having a right to safe and legal abortion. It seems obvious to most people that we should not force a woman who has become pregnant as a result of rape to continue with pregnancy. Catholic Church and conservative pro-lifers use the same old "murder argument" to not allow a woman to have an abortion in case of rape. Many of them do not realize the psychological trauma a woman has already gone through. They are not seeing the human beings involved.