The topic of the morality of abortion often overlooks a huge factor: women who opt for abortions are frequently those who didn't have access to adequate pregnancy prevention options.
I had consultations with numerous doctors about having tubal ligation done from the time I was 18 years old on. I've been absolutely certain all my life that I never wanted children. I've used just about every birth control method I've ever heard of but each came with drawbacks and side effects so I began seriously pursuing having tubal ligation done with I was 18. I was fortunate enough that the insurance my job provided covered the procedure but I couldn't find any doctor nationwide who would do the procedure on me. I persistently called and met in person with doctors, trying to persuade them or get recommendations for someone who would help, but I was repeatedly told that no one would do it for me because it was the standard to not do such a procedure on women who were unmarried, without kids already, and under 25 years old. They were all afraid of the backlash from women who wound up regretting it down the road.
Years later, after I was finally over 25, married, and had maxed out credit cards to spend cumulatively thousands of dollars on 10 abortions, they finally started taking me more seriously. I never wanted an abortion. I never wanted to get pregnant and throw all the money I didn't have away trying to not ruin the lives of myself, my partner, and a kid that we didn't even want. I wanted my tubes tied. Even after all that though, I was only able to find one doctor who would touch me and even she was extremely reluctant. After 10 abortions, she still worried that I'd change my mind and come after her. She agreed to help though. As is standard policy, we had a consultation and then waited 6 months to make sure I didn't change my mind before going forward with the procedure. Finally, I had my surgery. A year later, however, I got knocked up again. WTF. I spent hundreds more and had my 11th abortion. I went back to that doctor, who couldn't believe my tubal ligation had failed. She was a reputable doctor and had done the procedure to probably 100s of women before me without one failure til mine. I was unlucky, I guess.. So I went in for ANOTHER surgery in which she opted to cut and burn my fallopian tubes this time.
That was at least a couple of years ago now but I'm already 31 years old. I've bombarded my body with years of pills, shots, nuva rings, etc in an attempt to not get knocked up and still wound up pregnant 11 times. Oh yeah, and I've tried throwing myself down the stairs, using metal hangers and other tools, and ordering questionable drugs from other countries that induced extremely painful and dangerous miscarriages.
Especially without the surgery, do you realize how many unwanted kids I would have right now if abortion were illegal? I'm fairly certain that that wouldn't be any better than just giving me the surgery I so adamantly wanted. Not everyone has the resources I managed to utilize in my pregnancy prevention attempts either.
Whether or not we believe that abortion should be legal, I feel it holds true that we have a duty to people to strive to provide them with reasonable and equitable alternatives when we demand that they give up their freedoms to abide by our moral compass, rather than their own. Besides, using taxpayer dollars to provide those who want it with pregnancy prevention options that suit them would not only be a large part of a much more logical solution to the concern of morality of abortions but would also help to address issues such as overpopulation, global warming, our nation's debt (birth control would likely be cheaper than lots of unwanted kids living on government money), etc. If abortion were then made illegal, there would still be grey areas such as what to do when birth control failed or a woman opted not to take such preventative measures and became pregnant but decided she did not want to have a child. It would be a much more equitable start though and likely far more acceptable by society than just robbing people of freedoms.
*This was a quick type-up so pardon any incomplete thoughts, typos, etc. Hopefully, the message is clear enough regardless.
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