There are few issues that can raise one’s hackles more than the discussion of abortion. It is naturally an intense subject since we are discussing the life of a child. Let me first describe the current position of most abortion advocates. The majority of abortion supporters believe in at least early term abortions on demand at the request of the expectant mother. The circumstances surrounding the desire for an abortion, rape, incest, econimc conditions, are rarely of any consequence to abortion proponents. There has also never been any movement for at least a "more humane" abortion with the exception of the RU486 abortion pill.
My position on this issue as male comes from both personal experience and public observation. First, I was adopted as a baby in 1969 in Detroit, Michigan. 1969 wasn’t an accepting time for single mothers and abortion would have been an "easy" way out. Fortunately she didn’t choose that option. Obviously, as a former endangered fetus, I speak for them. As a father who has fought numerous times for his rights in and out of the courtroom, I resent the idea that a man has litle or no say in the life of his child. Half the DNA comes from the father and excluding his rights just because he was saddled with carrying the child or delivery is sex discrimination at its highest. Women resent being told there is anything they can’t do just because they have a uterus and it’s no different here. If either parent wants the child, at a minimum, it should be carried to term. Currently, if a woman wanted the child and the father did not, the woman could keep the child and force the man to support the child against his will. That is totally unfair to all men. The woman has complete control over the man and his child. What makes things even worse is the argument that this a "choice". At the least, the man should have the same choice then to not be involved. The problem with the view that this fetus is a "choice" is that the supporters arguments are highly inconsistent. When a pregnant woman is attacked and her fetus is destroyed somehow in the process, then, in many states, the person responsible can be charged with murder. If a fetus isn’t "life", than how can it be murder? This is a double standard. When the woman does it, it’s abortion. When it’s by another party against her wishes, it’s murder. Quite convenient for the woman isn’t it?
The next problem with abortion is the methods are babbaric. I’ll spare some of the gory details that most pro-lifers would expound upon because all the details aren’t needed to make the primary point. A fetus is either burned alive with a type of saline solution or sucked apart. When an inmate on death row for serial killing has his sentence finally carried out, usually now it is done by lethal injection and we, as society, try to make the guilty party as comfortable as possible. We place more interest in the comfort of a serial killer than an aborted fetus. Some will try to say the fetus doesn’t feel anything. We have an advanced nervous system which we are nowhere near to fully understanding so that argument is very weak. Even if it were true, to be so cavalier in anhiliating a human life is wrong on every level.
The truth be told, to abort a fetus, is a totally selfish act. Nine months is a VERY small sacrifice compared to a person’s lifetime. In America, for better or worse, there isn’t the stigma attached to being a single parent so even if adoption is chosen, you can find plenty of support during the pregnancy. Some couples will pay to at least cover expenses. Another option, that is better than prenancy, if you won’t carry the child to term is to freeze the embryo. There is some risk to the fetus but at least there is a chance the fetus can be transplanted to another female host who will carry the baby to term to raise as her own. This makes abortion obsolete and no longer a necessary part of the debate.
I did not get into the religious issues since I think most know which side most religions will side with. Medically speaking, an abortion is devastating to a woman’s body, physically and mentally. The physical harm could be never being able to have children or death at worse or just numerous health issues for several months afterward. The mental damage can be permanent. Destroying a fetus, no matter how confident in the decision at the time, will eat away at your psyche like a corrosive acid. The guilt and remorse of a lifetime isn’t worth any perceived convenience. Even if the cause of the pregnancy was rape or incest, look at that as a positive outcome to a negative event. Don’t focus on the circumstances that led to the pregnancy. Even bad situations can have positive results. This is life’s way of softening the blow. The child is innocent and a large part of that child is you. Destroying a fetus is a form of self-loathing. You and your child are both deserving of more!
