A few thoughts pro-choice
Recently there has been a renewed interest in the abortion debate, a topic people are always divided on. When we begin to explore the arguments involved, we are often surprised by how we and others feel about the subject. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that abortion means the mother is holding the fate of an innocent child in her hand, maybe even before that child can be classed as a living human being. And being human, deciding the fate of another person would give anyone room for pause. What gives a person the right end the life of another?
It seems that the majority of people arguing against abortion use religion and the gift of life as a reason. God as the creator, it seems, should be the only person who can make the decision to take away a life. A baby is a gift from God and therefore should be cherished regardless of whether the woman and her family is in a position to receive this gift. But if we subscribe to this, surely we must also refrain from seeking medical help because the doctors are ‘playing God’ everyday? Given that lives are at stake, this is a pretty bitter pill to swallow for atheists like me.
Maybe ethics can give us some direction. Killing a person is wrong and abortion, it’s argued, amounts to murder. As such, abortion must also be wrong. Of course, to accept this argument we must first accept that a foetus is indeed a person. This classification becomes very difficult when legal abortion in the UK can be carried out up to 24 weeks into the pregnancy but the youngest premature baby survived at just 22 weeks. At what point does a foetus become a baby?
Does the foetus become a baby when it is conceived? But then we can’t realistically assign any of the human characteristics to a foetus, which at the point of conception might never become a person. Or maybe a foetus becomes a person at birth. But then how can we justify the fact that a foetus born prematurely is more human than a baby overdue, despite the latter being more developed? Perhaps it’s when a foetus is able to survive independently of the mother? But how can we justify this with advances in medicine? Premature babies are getting younger and younger so what was classified a foetus 20 years ago would now be classed as babies. This becomes the basis of a whole philosophical debate.
The most feasible definition is probably when the foetus acquires certain characteristics which are synonymous with being human. Of course then you are left with the ridiculous task of defining what characteristics are human and fall into the risk of categorising people with lower functions as not human.
Perhaps in reality, this is all semantics. Whether it’s called a foetus or a baby, it’s still a living thing. From the moment of conception, the cells are living whether or not they materialise into anything more. The question we should ask is whether it’s the mother’s right to end this life. Even though I strongly believe that this decision isn’t to be taken lightly and personally I would probably never choose it, I do support a woman’s right to choose.
In the first instance, the woman is the creator of life. She is the person who carries the baby nine months to term. Without the mother, the child would never have the chance to exist in the first place. That’s not the same as saying that if a mother has given life to a child, she can take it away at any time even after a baby is born. After all, once a child is born it can survive independently of the mother. Arguably in the later stages of the pregnancy, the baby can also survive independently of the mother if born; but the baby will almost always be subject to a great deal of medical attention in order for it to survive. This nominal cut off point for survival is also the reason why abortion is legal prior to 24 weeks but only available on medical advice afterwards.
This may provide little justification for taking the life of an innocent but the world is not black and white. While it’s not necessarily the fault of the unborn child, it must be recognised that the impact of the birth of a child extends to beyond its birth. The existence of a child will have profound effects on the mother’s life, those around her and to a certain extent, those unknown to her. The child will set to change the course of the mother’s life in a way which she may not have anticipated or even desired. A woman should be allowed the right to choose to not have that change inflicted upon her. Granted, when pregnancy is through the recklessness of the mother, this is a difficult point to push when we feel that the mother should take responsibility for her actions. But then again, how can we happily trust a child to such a reckless mother?
In not providing the option of abortion, many women would be subject to a great deal of suffering physically and emotionally. Evidence of this prior to the legalisation of abortion is insurmountable. In fact, a study by the World Health Organisation and the Guttmacher Institute show that most unsafe abortions occur where abortion is illegal and it’s estimated that 67,000 women die every year as a result of unsafe abortions.
Arguing from the unborn child’s point of view, what life could the child have if it was unwanted? The mother may be unable to provide for the child economically, physically or emotionally. How can it be justifiable for a child to be brought into a life of suffering when arguably it could be saved from it all while still in a state of unconsciousness? What is often forgotten too is that abortion isn’t always the desired option for mothers either. In certain cases, for example children with severe disabilities or deformities, it’s often the medical advice for an abortion to take place. Carrying the baby to term may be fatal to the mother and the child may not even survive. It can only be cruel to bring a child into the world where it can experience nothing but suffering for its short life.
In order to successfully assess the validity of any of these arguments we, as a species, would need to endure the painstaking task of defining every term involved. Even then, when faced with the word abortion, we will still find room to be horrified at the thought because of our humanity. Theorising is very different from the facts. At the end of the day, even philosophers are conceding to the fact that for people, “reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions”. But choice should be provided because only greater suffering can result from the lack of choice.
