Foamy Dog Magazine - Abortion: A Complicated Subject?

Abortion is a complicated subject. It's not all cut and dried as many would have us think and it's not as complicated in other ways.

First of all, it involves taking an innocent life. There is a lot of mumbo jumbo about "when is the exact second that life begins" and I'm not going there because that's not the point of this particular article.

More to the point (but more to consider): birth control is free at the local health department. Taking an innocent life is not the answer to irresponsibility. If you don't want a child or are not ready to take on the responsibility and/or the complications that can accompany pregnancy or raising the child no matter the outcome -- again, birth control is free at the local health department.

"But what about the right of a woman to do what she wants with her own body?" That unborn fetus did not just appear--people need to take some responsibility for their actions. Furthermore, though the child is growing inside the mother's body, it is the child's body--another body altogther--not the mother's to discard like it was some wart on her big toe.

'What if it's to save the life of the mother?" Here's where it gets complicated. One life to save the other; both the mother and the child could die; the mother may die in child birth but the baby could survive . . . ÊThere is no answer to these questions. This is a very difficult decision that the mother and the father have to make. This is not something that the legal system should try to provide a cut and dried rule for.

"What about rape victims?" Yes, this is something to be considered. There is still the point that there is a life at stake but no, a woman should not have to have the rapists child. Though there are some that would argue, I see this as too much trauma for the mother and it couldn't be good for the child either to be born under such circumstances. There really isn't a fit all answer for this one but one possible solution is to immediately give every rape victim something to prevent pregnancy so the decision doesn't have to be made. Again, this isn't a fit all answer for a very complicated and terrible situation.

Abortion can be a very complicated subject in some cases but taking a life is certainly not an answer to irresponsibility.

-- Foamy Dog

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