Reproduction, My Rights or Your Morals?

In a perfect world there would be no need for abortion. In a perfect world, there would be no unwanted pregnancies. In a perfect world, there would be no threat to a womans physical or mental health if she carried a fetus to term. In a perfect world, there would be no miscarriages, children born with life threatening medical conditions, no children born into poverty, no rape, no child abuse, no single teenage mothers struggling to make ends meet and no reason not to carry a fetus to term. Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world. Termination of unwanted pregnancies by women has been around for centuries. The need for safe and legal abortion services still persists in modern society because women still want to choose for themselves whether or not to be pregnant.

There is no need to point out the many, many reasons that a woman might choose abortion. The reasons behind this choice are so varied that it would be impossible to name every single instance that a woman might choose to have an abortion. The most common reasons such as rape, incest, endangerment of the mothers life, poverty etc. have already been played by the media on both sides of the issue. Why do women choose to have cancer treatment, plastic surgery, life saving surgery? Because it is their right to do so. That is exactly what abortion is. A medical procedure. People don't to look at in that frank and sincere light. It is an optional medical procedure for women who choose to take control of their reproductive choices.

The debate about the ethical and moral issues involved in the termination of pregnancy have only become important in the last few decades. Many people who advocate on both sides do not even know the history behind abortion. Up until the 1920's, in the United States, abortion procedures were perfectly legal and acceptable in the United States. This only changed when the medical profession of the time saw that more women of the white middle and upper classes were choosing abortion as an alternative than women of the poorer classes who could not afford the procedure, namely African American women and other minority classes of the time. The medical profession was the reason abortion legislation was introduced into politics to begin with. White doctors were afraid that the lower classes would "out breed" the middle and upper classes.

Introducing abortion legislation into congress had nothing to do with a sudden attack of conscious on behalf of the medical profession nor with a moral outcry of certain religious groups as it seems to focus on now. Prior to this time, no public group, religious nor political, concerned themselves with abortion or any other reproductive issues. Abortion was something that wasn't discussed in polite society. It was a medical procedure between the woman and her physician. The fact remains that legal abortion procedures are a need in our society.

Women have moved from the traditional obedient second class citizen status to full, equal members of our society. Still womens reproductive rights are constantly being legislated. Not less than a decade ago, women were required by the federal government to obtain their husbands consent to undergo sterility procedures. We have never legislated mens rights to have a sterility procedure performed. Just recently a bill was introduced into legislation that would change the meaning of "birth control" to "abortion" and limit many womens access to contraceptive choices. Two decades ago, women were required to have their husbands consent to be prescribed birth control. There are still many regulations for underage women to obtain birth control. It is ridiculous for society to assume that a woman is old enough to get pregnant, give birth and be responsible for making all necessary legal decisions for that child, but not competent enough to make her own reproductive decisions.

Women for thousands of years have found ways to eliminate unwanted pregnancies. The use of certain herbs, the nightmare back room abortion procedures by unlicensed "doctors", the old fall down the stairs or off a horse method, self performed abortions by desperate women are just a few of the images that come to mind. Throughout history the elimination of unwanted pregnancies has been common practice. When the woman could not abort, the unwanted child was left to die in the wilderness or sold into slavery, even given to orphanages where the child was farmed out as labor to "adoptive parents". Even today unwanted children are found in dumpsters, parking lots and medical clinics, placed there by women who are unwilling or unable to care for them.

Should a woman have the right to an abortion? Absolutely. No other person has the right to overturn a womans decision not to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. The woman is the one who's health will be affected by the pregnancy. The woman is the one who bears the brunt of societies expectations concerning the child she will deliver. The woman is the one who's quality of life is most affected by this choice. There is no legitimate reason why a woman should not be allowed to make her own medical decisions regardless of the moral implications of that decision. It has been proven throughout history that morality cannot be legislated, try as we might as a society to do so. The bottom line is, if a woman does not want to be pregnant, she will find a way not to be.