The Problem Of Abortion: Between Pro-Life And Pro-Choice

Every year in the U.S. 18% percent of pregnancies ends in abortion. More than half of those abortions are because the father threatens to leave, or he doesn’t want the baby. Nowadays people are deciding whether they are pro-life or pro-choice. And the biggest debate is should abortion as a social issue be illegal and what would be the consequences for the woman who has said an abortion. But one thing we are excluding is men. How come we aren’t including men in abortion consequences or discussing the fact that men more than half the time are involved in the decision to have an abortion (excluding certain situations like rape). But men are getting a say in whether it should be illegal or not. When we talk about abortion, we exclude men and give them a “free pass” the only time men are included is when they are giving demands to women about what they should do with their bodies. Unless you are the father, you should have zero say. In an article from The New York Times, Michelle Oberman and David Bell discuss this issue. Oberman and Bell both teach criminal law. Oberman is known for her work on ethical issues such as adolescence, pregnancy, and motherhood. Oberman has also written a book called “Her Body, Our Laws”. In this article, Oberman and Bell discuss the problem of men needing to face equal consequences for abortion. Men shouldn’t just speak to or about women and abortion, they should take responsibility for themselves. As the famous saying goes “it takes two to tango”. Oberman and Bell include solutions for this problem that are convincing and helpful but in the real world not very likely to happen. These solutions include creating stricter laws or using preexisting laws in ways to create equal consequences for men.

In the article, their solutions include using the “child neglect” law against the father if he walks away from a pregnancy that he helped create. As well as using a law that says “Conduct which creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person” against men or against trying to ban abortion. Because if you ban abortion but having a baby could kill you, well which law do you follow?

In paragraphs 1 and 3 of “When We Talk About Abortion, Let’s Talk About Men” facts are present to provide reasoning for why men's consequences need to be more equal. An example used is Alabama’s abortion law. In May 2019 Alabama made it illegal to have an abortion. Them doing this puts lives in danger and puts affects women and women alone. When legalizing abortion states aren’t considering the bigger picture. Health risks, rape, etc. And if abortion is illegal, what happens to the mother who had an abortion. What if the father pressures or threatens her to have an abortion? What if the father agrees with the abortion? What happens to the male that helps created this baby and why are the only consequences and limits on the woman.

The history of abortion goes back to the nineteenth century. Abortion didn’t become a problem until the second half of the century. Before the second half of the century, abortion was done pretty safely and happened in as many as 1 and 4 births. Now the reasoning behind these abortions may not have been pure but at least it was a women’s say. Abortion starting to become a problem for many different reasons. Some people thought that it was targeting a certain race, some doctors wanted more money for it, so it became a price competition, and some people were just threatened by the idea of women doing more than just being wives and mothers who stay at home and cook and clean all day. Notice none of these reasons have to do with a women’s safety or body choice, all of them are just selfish and ignorant. When these against abortion allegations were first expressed, abortion wasn’t banned but looked down upon. This caused practices to close down or no longer offer that service for fear of losing business. But once it started to greatly do numbers on threatening women’s lives, it started to become popular again. Until it became a case in the 1970s and went to trial. Although the trial made abortion legal, here we are again having the debate nationwide if abortion should be legal or not. To make matters worse men are now getting even bigger say now and thinking it’s their right to decide.

In America, the phrase “boys will be boys” is commonly thrown around to defend the actions of men or boys, especially when it comes to sexual acts. For example, if they get a girl pregnant it’s labeled as an accident or mistake or teenagers just messing around. And although teenagers are plural, society oppositely views women. The stereotype of women is if they have sex, they are called slut shaming names, or another stereotype of women is the ones who get pregnant and don’t want their baby have behaved irresponsibly and are immature. But not once do you hear any comments about the man who helped Both are unacceptable and sexist. The way how society views men and women who get pregnant or engage in sexual activity is biased. It explains the reasoning behind gender inequality, It’s the exact way abortion is talked about.

Men shouldn’t be creating laws about women’s bodies. Men can discuss abortion and if you’re the father of the pre-born baby, then you deserve a say. But the number of powerful men and the amount of say is unbelievable and unrealistic. We live in a world where we think it’s okay to have a dominant gender. When a couple has a baby, the woman has more of a say because it’s her body. She does the carrying and the changing. What people aren’t taking into consideration are the health risks, the change of the body the woman goes through, and how mentally stable you have to be, as well as financially to have a baby. It takes a lot to bring a person into this world, rather it’s by yourself or with another person, and it takes a lot to be a woman. Lawmakers could easily say, “well if you don’t want a baby then don’t have sex.” But then you don’t take into consideration the women who were raped and forced to have sex not by choice, but by force. Making a woman have a baby with her predator is evil and criminalizing. Lawmakers are downgrading women and their feelings and treating abortion as if it’s a lightly weighted topic.

At the end of the day, abortion should not be made illegal, especially not by men. There can be guidelines and regulations for abortion but outlawing it all together has way too many complications and is almost inhuman. If men aren’t reliable enough to 100% be in their child’s lives, why are they telling women what to do with their bodies?

Although, people against abortion believe that abortion is wrong because of the sole reason they believe that it’s murder... abortion goes far beyond just that. People who believe in abortion think that the only thing that abortion is, is killing a baby. But what they fail to realize is that abortion also has regulations for that specific reason. For people to be considered the baby’s life or safety should’ve been a bigger issue back then than what it is now, but it’s not. Nowadays access to safe abortion is becoming more accessible. In the 1970s death from abortion occurred 1 in every 30,000, now it’s 1 in every 167,000. Also, in the 1970s abortions happening within the first 8 weeks was only 38 percent, now it’s 89 percent. Today abortion has become so safe, it’s ten times safer than carrying it till full term.

When abortion becomes a man’s choice, then the equality of women is threatened. The ability of women being able to participate the same as men in economic and social life will be controlled by not getting the choice of rather wanting to reproduce or not. Society will never reach equality if abortion is made illegal. The whole debate just brings down women’s economic, social, and political advancement in society. The debate on abortion has become so bad that it is now becoming harder for women to access safe, and affordable abortions, just as it did in the 1970s. America seems to be repeating a cycle that usually leads to the same thing. Abortion is a human issue, and men shouldn’t be advocating a decision women don’t even make for them.