The Religion Debate

An Atheist's View on Abortions

Written by Secular_Eliza

There is no doubt that Abortion is a tricky topic and one that makes many people uncomfortable. The Pro-life and Pro-choice movements are both very serious about what they believe in and will not hold back about taking down the other side in whatever way they can.

I myself, am Pro-Choice. I believe that a woman should have the right to what process her body should go through. However, that doesn't mean that I would have an abortion – it is something I could never do. But just because I could never have one, doesn't mean that I'm going to take the right away from other women to have one too.

But the thing is, most people don't just get an abortion because they don't want to have a child, there are so many other reasons. Some people can't afford to raise a child or the Pre-Natal costs, some are just not ready for a child. For others, having an abortion can come down to health problems for either the woman or the fetus.

Only 5% of women who have an abortion regret it, the other 95% say that it was the right choice. It's up to the woman what she wants to put her body and her life through and should not be made to live a life that she doesn't want.

Wait, what about adoption? This is an argument I hear from the Pro-Life side a lot and there is no doubt that it needs to be addressed. Currently, in America alone, there are 100,000 foster children waiting to be adopted. That's only in the US, that's not counting the millions of children in Asia and Africa without parents. If we stopped abortions on the basis that they are given up for adoption or be raised by an unready parent instead, how many more children would be in need of a home? How many more children would you be putting in an unsafe environment?

68,000 women die from unsafe abortions annually. Millions more are left injured for the rest of their lives. 97% of unsafe abortions happen in developing countries where many restrictive abortion and contraceptive laws are in place.

Not too long ago, abortions were illegal in developed nations like the US, Britain, and Australia, forcing women to have unsafe abortions.

When Gerri Santoro's abusive husband left town, she took up a relationship with another man and ended up pregnant. When her husband told her that he was coming back to town, she was faced with two options. Tell her abusive husband – putting not only her life and safety in danger but also her two daughters or to have an unsafe abortion. When she chose the later, she booked a hotel room, her partner got some medical journals and he attempted to perform an unsafe abortion on her. When she began to hemorrhage, her partner fled, leaving her to die alone in their hotel room. She tried to stop the bleeding but couldn't, eventually bleeding to death on the 8th June 1964.

The image of her lifeless body has become an image used by the pro-choice movement regularly. I'm not going to post it in this chapter, it might be too distressing for some readers. But it shows the dangers that come with making abortions illegal. Making abortions illegal will only stop safe, clinical abortions. It will never stop un-safe ones and never has an un-safe abortion saved a single child.

Abortions will always be a tricky topic for people to talk about but the laws should never be changed. Abortions should always remain legal, instead, give proper information to the woman and girls who need it. Un-safe abortions are a thing that no person should ever turn to. Women have a right to their bodies and no one should take that right away from them.

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If you have any questions, feel free to comment with them below. Just make sure to tag me (Secular_Eliza) in them. Thanks for reading!