My Gripe for today – Abortion – right or wrong

By Sandrea

Abortion;-  Termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo resulting in or caused by it’s death.

Put that way I can see how this can be a revolting idea to some people and understand why some people find abortion so intolerable.  I imagine that you may be wondering why I have chose such an emotive subject to gripe about.  I recently found out that someone had an abortion because  they said ” she could not face motherhood”, there were no other reason for that abortion.  But that his her choice, and I would rather her having an abortion than bring a child into the mix and end up abusing that child.

Is it  morally right to terminate a pregnancy?  That I believe is up to the individual and the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy.  However, where I take issue with the abortion debate is when individual state and organisation began to make it impossible for a woman to decide what is right for their bodies.  Do not get me wrong I do believe that there should be guidelines that is laid down as to how far a pregnacy should go before an abortion can no longer be  undertaken.

I recently read that Nebraska banned most abortion after 20 weeks and as a former Midwife, I can agree with that.  On the other hand, when I read the abortion law that Oklahoma  senate passed, my blood boil.   They have decided that  a woman who seeks an abortion is to be given an ultrasound, and be shown the ultrasound image.  This is tantamount to emotional blackmail.  And wait.. they have not done yet.

Double standard

In Oklahoma a Doctor can hide from his female patient the fact that the fetus she his carrying had a defect, such a trisomy 18 – a genetic disorder that comes with it a 90-95% guarantee that the child will die within it’s first year.  In my personal opinion this is disgusting, because  parents are then put through physical and emotional turmoil of having a baby only to watch the child die within a year.

Making Abortion Easy

I do not believe that abortion should be make easy or taken willy- nilly.  However there are cases that warrant an abortion, be it medical or if a woman is raped and get pregnant and do not wish to carry the child.  Woman should be allow to make that choice, without the fear of being prosecuted or stigmatised.

Pro-Life

I have no problem with pro-lifers.  But what they are advocating – total ban on abortion is unacceptable and not a viable option.  There must be some kind of balance, I am neither for or against abortion and having delivered many babies in my life -time, I have seen both side of the coin.   As human beings we must have a fundamental right and ability to make decisons that governs our lives.

The Globe

All around the world there are children dying everyday.  You cannot turn your television on without seeing some organisation or other asking for donations to feed starving children.  I remember the reason that ‘Band Aid’ happen.  Years from that event which highlight the plight of children, there are still many hundreds of children still starving.  Here we are, orchestrating bring more and more unwanted children into the world.

The emphasis should be on education. We should be spending the resources that we have to teach women to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies, rather than building jail to house them if they break abortion laws.  It is ludicrous in this the 21st century that we cannot come up with an effective plan to aid women who need, or have to have an abortion, instead of criminalised us for the way in which we treat our bodies.

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