i used to be against it; whenever i encountered someone who made a statement like that, i would look upon them with disgust. however, my mind matured and grew up. just because i would not have one does not mean they ought to be illegal. they will happen regardless, and prohibiting them simply drives those women to unsafe methods that endanger their lives. whether she was r/ped, is financially unstable, is unmarried and concerned about what their family or society will say, is in an ab/sive relationship, is pregnant due to medical reasons, or simply does not want to have children, it is not our responsibility or business to police a woman’s body. if you oppose abortion, then do not obtain one. but don’t stop someone else from doing something because you don’t agree with it. i despise eating bread, but I don’t try to outlaw them.

prohibiting abortion only forces women to resort to dangerous measures. nobody benefits from this. abortion is about gaining bodily autonomy. we do not force you to donate a kidney, bone marrow, or blood— despite the fact that forced organ donation would undoubtedly save lives, and donating blood is far less burdensome than pregnancy and childbirth. society has not deemed it necessary to force you to do something like that with your body in order to save the life of another person. forcing someone to go through something that has a significant impact on her body, possibly even putting her life in danger, against her will is far more radical than forcing you to donate money, blood, or bone marrow.

frankly, i don’t think i could ever undergo an abortion. of course, i’m unaware of that yet. i can’t fathom what it’s like to bear a child on a rapist, a child with a fatal disability, or a child of an abuser. i haven’t been a teen mother or a pregnant mother of five with insufficient funds to feed five, let alone six. i want to demonstrate that i completely understand why women end up making that difficult decision. but, foremost, this isn’t about me. It’s about the only person who truly understands what it’s like to be in that situation: the woman in need of an abortion. nobody knows until we fit the description. life is difficult, tragic, and chaotic. abortions do not vanish simply because they are made illegal. they simply become life-threatening. instead of passing judgment, we should do everything we can to prevent unnecessary tragedies.

if you want me to say it logically, it will most likely be based on consent, choice, and sentience. consent is significant due to the moral quandary it demonstrates. when it comes to moral conflicts, consent is the deciding factor. consent is the ultimate underlying factor that we care about in a society. since the fetus lacks sentience and the ability to consent, the woman’s bodily autonomy takes precedence. the possible explanation for this is that, as a society, we agree that consent requires a certain level of sentience. that requirement is not met by a fetus. so, by any legal, moral, or ethical standard, we should not have the right to deprive a sentient woman of her bodily autonomy and consent in exchange for a non-sentient fetus.

consent should be sought at any point during the pregnancy cycle. women ought not to be morally or legally obligated to bear a child. anything less is a major breach of bodily autonomy and consent. so i ask you, why do you want to infringe on a woman’s right to her body? why do you want to demand that the government should prohibit abortion? the government will only gain more power. they will have the authority to decide what can and cannot be done with women’s bodies. i don’t understand why people can’t be left alone. why force someone to undergo a pregnancy if they do not desire to? will you adopt the child if you want her to continue? will you cover the expenses? if you answered no to either of those questions, then shut it down. these ridiculous abortion laws that prevent nine-to-ten-year-old r/ped girls from having abortions are abhorrent and, frankly, disgusting.