Abortions are perhaps the most taboo topic of all, let alone within the spectrum of this blog. But whether you are "pro-choice" or "pro-life," this is a topic that very heavily impacts the lives of all who are directly involved, babies and mothers alike. Before moving forward, it is important to note that the case is different for every mother who seeks an abortion. In some cases a mother will seek an abortion because she has been impregnated in an act of rape, while in other cases a mother will choose to seek an abortion because of a danger the baby has been exposed to in utero, and in some cases a mother will choose to seek an abortion because she does not have the financial means to birth a child, though there are many cases beyond those which have just been mentioned.
Eventhough abortions have been quite taboo for many decades, that has not always been the case. For thousands of years and in every society that has been studied, abortions have been a relevant practice. Particularly in the United States, abortions were not only initially legal, but they were both publicly advertised and commonly performed. It wasn't until the mid-to-late 1800s that abortions started to become illegal on a state by state basis. And interestingly enough, in some states, one motivation behind putting forth anti-abortion laws was rooted in a fear that the population would become dominated by immigrants whose birth rates were higher than those of Anglo-Saxon women.
Despite previous technologies making abortions medically risky, risk was quite comparable in magnitude to many surgeries which were deemed legal. As medical technology began to advance, surgical procedures' risk factors diminished, but as abortions remained outlawed, those who saw abortions fit for their situations began to go to illegal practitioners who did not have such medical advantages at their disposition. Skipping ahead quite a few years, in 1973 a Supreme Court decision was made that would lead to a significant decreases in the number of pregnancy-related injuries and deaths. The Roe v. Wade ruling made it possible for women to safely get legal abortions from medical practitioners who are well-trained in the field. Although this is current legal practice in the United States, it is important to remember that the in many other places around the word abortions are still illegal, though many women still go great lengths to have abortions and in many cases still end up going to illegal practitioners without safe medical technologies. For the purpose of this post, we are going to delve more so into practices regarding abortions within the United States.
In recent decades, the controversy surrounding abortions has very distinctly shifted away from population ideals and the medical safety of the woman, and taken a nosedive into the moral implications of abortions or lack thereof. Though, please keep in mind that the dialogue on abortions is not whether there should be abortions willy nilly or abortions never. Rather, it is whether the mother should have the right to choose to have an abortion under dire circumstances or whether the baby should have the right to not be aborted on the mother’s terms under any circumstances. But the lengths that some are willing to go to prove their point can be quite alarming. In countless situations, abortion centers and pro-life centers pop up in close proximity to each other, while pro-life centers have a striking history of trying to lead abortion seaking mothers into entering their clinics instead. Though pro-life clinics claim that these are the very tactics they are trying to implement in order to most effectively stop women from terminating their pregnancies. Â
In any case (within the United States), the organization is looking out for the wellbeing of the mother and the baby, and it is incredibly vital that the mother who may be considering abortion pays careful attention to the validity of the facts presented regarding the medical implications of abortions and very sterny and holistically considers the moral and ethical implications of getting an abortion as well.
Sources:
https://prochoice.org/education-and-advocacy/about-abortion/history-of-abortion/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NNpkv3Us1I