Overview - Abortion

Slash-burn through all the polemics and what we’re left with is this: By 20 weeks the fetus has developed to the point of having a more or less complete cortex, and pain becomes a possibility; by 22-24 weeks it has developed the structures for some degree of consciousness (some degree) and pain becomes a risk; and by 29 weeks pain becomes likely (Hrbek et al., 1973; Flower, 1985; Klimach & Cook, 1988; MRC, 1992; Kostovic et al., 1992; Glover & Fisk, 1999; MRC, 2001; Lee et al., 2005). Therefore late-term and partial-birth abortions are at appreciable risk for fetal suffering, but it also excludes over 98% of all abortions. None of this minimizes the value of a gestating fetus, nor does it provide de-facto justification for dismissing all concerns about its development. But it does demonstrate how ridiculous it is (and damaging to one’s credibility) to wax eloquent about the “silent screams” of “babies” that “feel [their] mothers” at 8 weeks.

Abortion Realities

Abortion is a fact of life and sooner or later we must decide how we will respond to it, individually and as a society. Regardless of our views, our choices will have consequences that reach far beyond our own private lives and moral sensibilities. It’s disturbing that so few people on either side of the debate seem able to step outside of their own prejudices long enough to reflect on them.

If we take the Pro-Choice movement at face value, a gestating human fetus at any stage of development susceptible to abortion is little more than a pet snail. Women should be allowed to do whatever they please with them for whatever reasons they fancy. If an unplanned pregnancy presents difficulties, or even so much as crimps their style, they’re entitled to just get rid of it the way they would a problem boyfriend or a lousy job. Sexual freedom and pregnancy are rights… and we’re entitled to them with no attendant responsibilities of any kind.

If we take the Pro-Life movement at face value, the second a sperm penetrates an ovum wall we have a “baby.” Pro-Choice advocates are all bra-burning militant feminists with lifetime memberships in NARAL who are aborting (i.e. “murdering”) these babies for no reason other than convenience and the preservation of their sexual freedom. The only way to deal with this “holocaust” effectively is to ban abortions and impose harsh punishments on transgressors. Furthermore, we wouldn’t be in this situation if liberals and feminists hadn’t brought about the “sexual revolution” in the late 60’s.⁴ To curtail unwanted pregnancies we must restore the age of chastity by eliminating all family planning, reproductive healthcare (including contraception), and sex education not based on abstinence-only outside of marriage.

It’s high time everyone faced some inconvenient facts.

Not all abortions are equal

There is a considerable difference between a fetus at 0-8 weeks of development and one at 20-24 weeks in terms of development, potential for conscious suffering, and even survival outside of the womb. Though at least 98% of all abortions happen before this stage, enough still happen at, or after it to account for thousands, and perhaps even tens of thousands of late-term abortions annually in the United States alone. Whatever may be true of other abortions, Pro-Choice advocates need to stop hiding behind lame excuses and face up to the moral implications of this. Likewise, a fetus at 3 weeks development is hardly a conscious, self-aware baby, and Pro-Life advocates to lay off their tales of “silently screaming babies” and bring some science to their case that in the very least meets junior high school scholarship standards.

Globally, the large majority of women who choose abortion cite several reasons doing so, and these are consistent across all socio-cultural and economic sectors. Most say that an unwanted birth would interfere with work or school, or impact their ability to care for existing dependents. In the United States three-fourths cite at least one of these reasons and nearly half also cite relationship problems, including abuse. Even in the Developed World abortion rates are considerably higher among low income women, largely due to restricted access to reproductive healthcare education and services other than abortion clinics (Boonstra et al., 2006; Jones et al., 2002). Opinions may differ as to whether any of this justifies an abortion, but they’re not flippant or merely concerned with lifestyle freedom.

In the Third World matters are much worse. Here, unintended pregnancy and abortion rates are significantly higher than in the Developed World. Many if not most abortions are being had by women who have little choice even over the frequency and timing of their sexual encounters, and live in regions of poverty and strife where there is little if any access to birth control. Most are already struggling to feed the families they already have and do not want another pregnancy, yet live in cultures where they have little say over the frequency and timing of their sexual encounters. Many are often forced into unprotected sex by husbands, employers, educators, and the social-cultural norms of their communities.