The Issue Of Allowing Aborting Motherhood In America

Throughout the decades, abortion has been a controversial issue worldwide between religions and cultures. Abortion is purposely ending a pregnancy, thus the life of the fetus. Some people may find this action to be morally wrong, may consider this to be murder as they believe in pro-life. Unfortunately, women who aren't allowed the right of abortion can suffer greatly. Some can attempt to do it themselves which can affect them in dangerous ways. They may go through with the pregnancy and realize they will have to make a choice; whether they will keep it and have it as a burden or giving it away; making pro-life somewhat contradicting.

In order to avoid conflict all communities should be pro-choice. A forced pregnancy could affect a woman mentally and physically, rape victims would have to bear a child they would not love and those children given away would be sent off to the foster care or adoption system. After an unwanted birth, women are prone to struggles of mental and physical health. Women have to go through a long and hard process that last around 9 months, and when a woman is forced to go along with such a process, it can take toll of their mind. According to Drs. Noguera and Gil, when a women declares they don’t want to go along with a pregnancy, it can cause symptoms of depression, anxiety, and/or higher stress levels that can easily affect the fetus as well. “40% greater incidences of high levels of psychological stress and depressive symptoms occur among those of unwanted pregnancies”.

Mental health and physical health always go hand in hand; and when a women begins to suffer depression and anxiety, that can lead her to take drastic and illegal measures, such as self-abortion and the death of the fetus, but also the mother. For those who are pro-life, by trying to save one life that isn’t even born yet, you could end up killing both. Through the extensive research of SACHA, there are 460, 000 sexual assaults in Canada every year, and many of them may result in pregnancies. 99% of the times, men are the ones assaulting women and these females become powerless and are wounded deeply, having left with the result of a pregnancy made from the dark intentions of another and left wounded in the most profound way. In the state of Iowa, there is a bill that states, that unless a woman who has been raped does not report her assault within the 45 days it occured, they will not allow her to end her pregnancy. A woman after such an assault, can be in a shocked state which could last a very long time. Her main focus is not on her menstrual cycle, but on her state of mind and emotional well-being, since the lack of trust she now has towards others, and her feelings of being afraid or ashamed, prevents her from even talking to anyone about it or even getting a doctor to check her physical state.

We must be compassionate and support women and young girls in such circumstances, not forcing them to speak when they are not ready. For those who are pro-life, decide to continue with the pregnancy, yet from the beginning knows she won’t be keeping the baby. There are many options to avoid abandoning a baby on the street, such as closed-adoption, open-adoption, foster care. However, when these babies are put in the system, their chances of ever getting a permanent home or being adopted is scarce. In Canada, the amount of adoptions is dropping enormously. There are around 30, 700 children in need of a home in Canada alone, and in 2016, only 1, 376 were adopted. Not only is this number low, but it keeps decreasing since those looking to adopt either want newborns or international children. Thus, the older the children get, the less likely those children will ever find a permanent home. Those children in foster care systems could live in a temporary home that doesn’t take care of them and run away ending up homeless, or those in the adoption agencies living in group homes, “age out of care” when they turn age of 18 and forced to leave into the world with “no support-network”. Many of these children will leave those homes, with much less opportunities than those who were adopted. Since they have no money, they are unable to go to post-secondary school; all they might have is a highschool diploma and are forced to get a low wage paying job and have no priorities in life, only survival. Most kids begin to hang around the wrong crowds, and since the have no positive influences to guide them, they might get into drugs leading them to spend most of their money they have on drugs and ending up homeless or in jail. Instead of getting back on their feet, since they are addicted, they will keep spending the little money they have on those drugs and continue to be homeless. That baby who was given up to allow it to have a “chance in life”, ended in a system for 18 years, left to defend themselves all on their own, took the wrong path, ending up homeless and addicted, leading to his death, all alone.

To make the decision of abortion is up to the women carrying, if it is the right decision for her. A pregnancy should not only fulfill the life of another, but of the mother. She must be mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for what is to come, and no one should force that upon any female. The circumstance that a pregnancy might have occured from can be a major influence on her decision of the mother to follow through with her terms. One must reflect on all aspects of a situation, we should reflect on the past events, in what could happen in the future for the mother and the child, and the present and what is really happening with the women, who are the ones who are affected by the whole process, no one else. North America is based on freedoms and rights, and women should have the right to decide on their future, on their health, and we as a community should give them that choice.