On October 2, crowds of people flocked to the streets of Clairemont and El Cajon to participate in the National Life Chain movement – one of many anti-abortion protests, according to the official Life Chain website (lifechain.net). These rallies, along with countless others nation-wide, aim to outlaw a woman’s freedom to have an abortion, regardless of the circumstances. The choice to abort a pregnancy is legal in America at this time, and it is the duty of both the people and, more importantly, the law to protect that right.
At its core, abortion is not the government’s decision, but the patient’s. For example, it would be considered immoral, possibly even unconstitutional, if a government outlawed any other medical procedure. And, although the moral implications of an abortion are significantly more serious than something like a gastric bypass surgery, the same concept applies. “The choice should always be yours,” said Sophomore Eliese Maxwell. “Your body is your body, whatever other people’s opinions are.” Women deserve to deal with their pregnancies privately, at their own discretion, and with their doctors’ advice, not their politicians’.
The government is, however, entrusted to ensure this remains the case, for many reasons. One, and perhaps the most important, is to look after women who have been maltreated. Those who are victims of rape, incest, or other forms of sexual assault – over 683,000 in the US annually, according to the Rape Trauma Services website – should not be forced to bring a pregnancy to its full term simply because abortion is against a few peoples’ ideologies (rapetraumaservices.org). Abortion should always be an option, especially under desperate circumstances where it is arguably the best choice for the patient.
A second, almost counter-intuitive reason is to prevent an increase in high-risk abortions. As strange as it sounds, this would likely occur if pro-life activists succeeded; with no legal place to turn, more and more women would undergo unsafe, unlicensed surgeries. Such practices already result in 219 deaths per day worldwide, and before abortion was legalized in the 1960s, 5,000 women died from them per year in the US alone, according to the official Our Bodies, Ourselves Organization’s website. As it is now, Abortion Clinics provide licensed care and ensure a clean, safe environment. They are regulated and monitored by the government, and greatly increase the likelihood of a successful operation (ourbodiesourselves.org). Without these facilities, the death rate would almost certainly go up. A ban on abortions would not save innocent embryos; it would unintentionally kill their mothers.
With all of this being said, abortions should always be a last resort. In cases where adoption or some other viable alternatives are fitting, they should definitely be considered first. Unfortunately, that does not change the fact that some women feel they only have one choice. Sometimes certain cases require certain solutions, and those cases have to be protected by law.