some thoughts re. abortion
Katie's post about pro-lifers and their stance on adoption, made me think about something else (to the already mile long list) about pro-life stances that bugs me.
Many proponents of illegalizing abortion always seem to include, as a side-note, "unless they were raped, in which case, get on with the baby-killing!" This is problematic for me for a few reasons.
1. It is hypocritical to say that an unborn child's life is sacred, that it is innocent and deserving of life...unless it was the result of rape. Oh, okay, since the father was eeeeevil, then the innocent life that would've been worth protecting had the mother been consenting is okay to exterminate? If pro-lifers want to claim that all life is sacred, then I feel like the rape clause can't be included because it kind of deteriorates their argument.
(For the record, I think any woman, for any reason, should be able to have an abortion, I'm just talking about from the religious POV and stance of pro-lifers, it makes no sense.)
2. By saying that only women who are forced into sex are allowed to get abortions, it means that it would be considered too traumatic for a woman to have to go through with the pregnancy and ultimately the birth, whether they give the child up or not. Who is say that just because the sex was consensual other cases of unwanted pregnancies are not traumatic? I don't pretend to know if one is more emotionally agonizing than another, and I don't think anyone can know it for anyone else.
3. Allowing only women who were raped to get abortions also implies that they didn't "deserve" to get pregnant, and villainizes those women who choose to have sex, and also treats pregnancy as a punishment for these women. Pregnancy should never be seen in a such a way.
4. I fear that if women can only get abortions in the case of rape, then many women would feel as though they have no choice but to claim they were raped, even if that wasn't the case. This would be awful, as women are already treated with skepticism and doubt whenever they say they were raped, and this would only increase the amount women are made to feel guilty for being victimized.
5. I also am unsure as to how The Powers That Be would determine these cases. Do you just have to say you were raped? Do you have to prove it? Do you have to press charges against the rapist? Would they do DNA tests? Forcing a woman to press charges, forcing her to go through whatever processes deemed neccessary to "okay" the abortion is not only yet another way of restricting women's choices, but would serve to be cruel re-victimization of the woman.
Many proponents of illegalizing abortion always seem to include, as a side-note, "unless they were raped, in which case, get on with the baby-killing!" This is problematic for me for a few reasons.
1. It is hypocritical to say that an unborn child's life is sacred, that it is innocent and deserving of life...unless it was the result of rape. Oh, okay, since the father was eeeeevil, then the innocent life that would've been worth protecting had the mother been consenting is okay to exterminate? If pro-lifers want to claim that all life is sacred, then I feel like the rape clause can't be included because it kind of deteriorates their argument.
(For the record, I think any woman, for any reason, should be able to have an abortion, I'm just talking about from the religious POV and stance of pro-lifers, it makes no sense.)
2. By saying that only women who are forced into sex are allowed to get abortions, it means that it would be considered too traumatic for a woman to have to go through with the pregnancy and ultimately the birth, whether they give the child up or not. Who is say that just because the sex was consensual other cases of unwanted pregnancies are not traumatic? I don't pretend to know if one is more emotionally agonizing than another, and I don't think anyone can know it for anyone else.
3. Allowing only women who were raped to get abortions also implies that they didn't "deserve" to get pregnant, and villainizes those women who choose to have sex, and also treats pregnancy as a punishment for these women. Pregnancy should never be seen in a such a way.
4. I fear that if women can only get abortions in the case of rape, then many women would feel as though they have no choice but to claim they were raped, even if that wasn't the case. This would be awful, as women are already treated with skepticism and doubt whenever they say they were raped, and this would only increase the amount women are made to feel guilty for being victimized.
5. I also am unsure as to how The Powers That Be would determine these cases. Do you just have to say you were raped? Do you have to prove it? Do you have to press charges against the rapist? Would they do DNA tests? Forcing a woman to press charges, forcing her to go through whatever processes deemed neccessary to "okay" the abortion is not only yet another way of restricting women's choices, but would serve to be cruel re-victimization of the woman.