So, I was thinking about what to write for hours today and couldn't think of anything. So I texted my girlfriend and asked her to suggest a topic for me to write on. I honestly had no idea why she brought up abortion, but I didn't want to avoid the subject. Yes, I'm not a lady/woman, and clearly, I can't have an abortion. As a result, it was easier for me to believe it was someone else's problem. Unfortunately, it is a problem that affects everyone. I don’t differentiate.
I, personally, would never get breast augmentation. Mostly because I don’t have boobs.
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My abortion stance is as straightforward as it gets: I am convinced that any woman should be able to terminate her pregnancy at any time and for any reason, without being charged or requiring the input of anyone other than her own doctor.
We already have excellent regulations in place that apply to all abortions, and they are the same regulations that govern medical practice in general. Doctors are not permitted to murder infants, contrary to what some anti-choice activists would have you believe, and not just because it is illegal. They are bound by medical and professional ethics, which would already preclude the absurd scenarios that are frequently used to persuade even moderates to support abortion restrictions. Even if those scenarios weren't illegal, there's a reason they're still hypothetical after more than 40 million legal abortions (1/2) according to WHO: women don't do them.
In my opinion, life, in the sense of personhood, does not begin at conception. In fact, I see no reason to disagree with the notion that birth is the most important event in one's life. It is not only when a fetus becomes an infant after leaving the womb and waking up in a state of consciousness, but also when it stops relying on the placenta for life support and begins to function biologically as a human. Most importantly, it is at this point that the offspring ceases to exist as a parasite within the mother and begins to exist as a separate entity. As a corn isn't the same as a tree, and the ability to become something isn't the same as being it. Although your four-year-old has the prospect of becoming a surgeon, I'm sure you don't want him/her to remove your appendix.
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It wouldn't matter to me if someone showed up tomorrow with definitive proof that souls exist and that fetuses have them, because abortion rights are all about the woman. And, if one believes in souls, there's no denying that women are fully human beings with souls. So, even if limiting a woman's basic human rights could save another human being, why would we do so? Nobody is obligated to give up their rights, even if it means saving someone else's life. You are not required to donate blood or your kidneys, even if the person in need is your child, or you are responsible for their condition. Alternatively, no one has the right to life at the expense of another. You don't have to give up your savings to help someone buy life-saving medicine, and you don't have to give up your ability to manually ventilate a patient if the local hospital's generators and batteries fail.
So, why should a woman have to give up her physical well-being, happiness, or freedom in the name of a fetus? Why should she be forced to risk her life? Anti-choicers portray unwanted pregnancy as a nuisance at best, but it is a fact that every pregnancy poses a life-threatening threat to the woman. As much as one woman may enjoy being pregnant, it can be a source of physical and mental anguish for others, and it may result in her death. You may think that such deaths are uncommon, but the maternal mortality rate in the United States is among the highest in the developed world, and 24 in 100,000 suddenly becomes a lot when it happens to you or a loved one. Pregnancy isn’t a non-event, and forcing women to become pregnant is an unacceptably bad situation to be in. Women are just as valuable as anyone else, so taking away women's rights for the sake of fetuses would be unacceptably cruel.
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As a result, I believe that any woman who wishes to have an abortion should do so. It makes no difference how far along she is in her pregnancy, whether or not she used birth control, or whether she is prepared to raise a child. My mom is a nurse, and she had previously worked in an abortion clinic, where she treated patients and assisted with procedures, and she frankly said to me every time I brought this subject up with her that she had never met a woman who didn't have a valid reason for terminating her pregnancy. It may not have been a reason I agreed with as a person, but you may also not agree with the lady’s reasons for terminating, which is why we should all stay out of each other's wombs. It was her decision to use her body in this way. My body, my choice. And yes, your body, your choice. If you are anti-abortion, you do not need to have one.
