Medical Procedure pt 1
I'd like to take a moment to outline my key points
- There are medical procedures that I do not agree with
- Though I don't agree with them, I acknowledge that they are sometimes necessary. Being necessary doesn't really make them good, but it makes them better than the alternatives, such as say a slow horrible painful death.
- In some cases, these procedures can be advantageous, and because of this, some people may choose to electively undergo the procedure.
- While recognizing the need for parental consent when the patient is a minor, there are circumstances where a parent's involvement may not be in the patient's best interest.
Perhaps by now we recognize that amputation is not the issue.
I do not morally agree with abortion. I recognize that performing an abortion is in fact ending a life. I am concerned that in some ways, abortion has created an image in our culture that children are parasites. Contraceptives exists and to an extent are widely available. In short, there should be little need for abortion.
However, there is a need and that need is not going to go away if abortion is outlawed. Zygotes don't always implant right. Babies develop debilitating and terminal congenital diseases and defects. There are so many things that can go wrong with a pregnancy. Sometimes, it comes down to a choice of saving the mother, or letting both die.
Even without the medical need for an abortion, there are still reasons to have it electively. Precautions fail. It's rare, but nothing is 100%. Even if we could say that everything was 99%, no matter how many 99% we stack on top of each other, we still don't make it to 100%. If a woman doesn't feel ready to have a child, for whatever reason, ending the pregnancy maybe the best option.
There are other reasons. People are raped, both men and women. Age isn't really a factor, I don't think. And both men and women commit rapes. It is a part of that dark side of humanity that we don't want to face, and sadly, our culture is very good at brushing off. Specifically, though, when a man rapes a woman, there is a risk of pregnancy. The same is true when a woman rapes a man, but I'm focusing on victims, not aggressors. It stand to reason that if a man shown such little respect to a woman as to take her by force, it is not unreasonable to think that he hasn't enough respect for her to care if she gets pregnant.
I know very well, the argument that nearly every anti-abortionist cites. "I know a woman who was raped and gave birth and it was the greatest blessing of her life." I'm not a parent, but I know enough parents to see how children are a blessing. I also see how they are a burden and a responsibility. It is not a situation that a person should ever feel forced into. When a woman has a child, the man who fathered that child has a measure of power in her life. The child is a reminder of the father. Further, under law, a father has rights and may or may not exercise those rights. Does a child deserve to spend his or her life being a reminder to their mother of a horrible event? Does a child deserve to be a means for their mother to be re-victimized, to have to share a part of her life with a man who violated her? I wouldn't dare suggest that anything is universal. I'm simply stating that if any way a woman sees this the kind of life she would offer the child of her rapist, ending the pregnancy is likely the better option.
The discussion of rape leads us into yet another facet of abortion. Consent. Technically, a minor needs parental consent to have a medical procedure done. So why should we make an exception for abortion? Statistically, when a child is abused, it is likely a person who lives in the same household. If a teen is pregnant from an act of sexual abuse, asking for parental consent opens a gateway of putting teen girls at the mercy of their abusers. This gives the abuser, if he or she is a parent, control over an important decision, power over their victim. For the most part, control and power is the reason an abuser abuses to begin with.
As I write, I take another factor into consideration. Anti-abortionists have cited, in the past, the psychological effects of having an abortion. Feelings of regret, depression. and shame. For depression, I'm inclined to think that this may tie in with Postpartum Depression, which occurs in mothers who have actually carried a baby to term and given birth. I won't pretend that I know anything about PPD or the physiological, psychological, or emotional changes a woman undergoes during any stage of pregnancy. I haven't studied either. I simply observe that there's a possible link. Feelings of regret aren't singular to women who've has an abortion either. It's a very big decision and many people take the time to reflect on their decisions and consider the alternatives. In some of these people, it leaves regretful feelings.
Finally, I look to feelings of shame. My personal experience tells me that feelings of shame are often inflicted by external sources. We choose to adopt and internalize those or not, but I've never heard of a case where someone simply invented a reason to be ashamed of themselves. I consider what a source of these feelings shame might be and I think that maybe it might have something do with the crowd of people women have to walk past, shouting names at them like "slut," "whore," and "murderer". Just a guess.
The discussion of rape leads us into yet another facet of abortion. Consent. Technically, a minor needs parental consent to have a medical procedure done. So why should we make an exception for abortion? Statistically, when a child is abused, it is likely a person who lives in the same household. If a teen is pregnant from an act of sexual abuse, asking for parental consent opens a gateway of putting teen girls at the mercy of their abusers. This gives the abuser, if he or she is a parent, control over an important decision, power over their victim. For the most part, control and power is the reason an abuser abuses to begin with.
As I write, I take another factor into consideration. Anti-abortionists have cited, in the past, the psychological effects of having an abortion. Feelings of regret, depression. and shame. For depression, I'm inclined to think that this may tie in with Postpartum Depression, which occurs in mothers who have actually carried a baby to term and given birth. I won't pretend that I know anything about PPD or the physiological, psychological, or emotional changes a woman undergoes during any stage of pregnancy. I haven't studied either. I simply observe that there's a possible link. Feelings of regret aren't singular to women who've has an abortion either. It's a very big decision and many people take the time to reflect on their decisions and consider the alternatives. In some of these people, it leaves regretful feelings.
Finally, I look to feelings of shame. My personal experience tells me that feelings of shame are often inflicted by external sources. We choose to adopt and internalize those or not, but I've never heard of a case where someone simply invented a reason to be ashamed of themselves. I consider what a source of these feelings shame might be and I think that maybe it might have something do with the crowd of people women have to walk past, shouting names at them like "slut," "whore," and "murderer". Just a guess.
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