I am here to tell you what liberals had in mind when they supported abortion rights in the wake of Roe Vs Wade, 1973, as this is my mother's generation.
What they meant:
Few women would have an abortion: it would be rare.
It would be very early in a pregnancy, that is, a woman would find out she was pregnant, say, oops this was unplanned, and have the abortion very soon, way before the end of the first trimester.
It would never be used to for gender selection. It would not be pushed on blacks and other minority groups.
No woman would be pressured by anyone to abort, it would be the Woman's Choice.
It would not be used to eradicate those with Down's syndrome or spina bifida or any other disease.
The woman would relate to such an abortion as she would to a late period. It would not cause her any psychological or physical harm.
Abortion would not lead to promiscuous sex.
Using fetal parts for medical research was unthinkable. They never would have dreamed of this.
The above in a nutshell is what those liberals meant, half a century ago.
What abortion has become:
Some women have had multiple abortions. Abortion has affected women psychologically in ways that were not anticipated. Some women have died because of complications during the abortion procedure. Abortionists are pushing abortion onto women. In the Keisha Atkins case, Keisha was pressured to abort her late term baby in part because she was blue collar and Latina - that is racism and classism. Abortion sends the message that you must be perfect to be a perfect parent, which is untrue. Abortion has given people excuses not to support the perinatal woman, or anyone needing aid, as people became trained to think, "see these neglected or abused kids? She should have had an abortion", thus creating a callous society.
Abortion has created a culture of ableism.
Abortion has wounded our generation in more ways than we can count.
This is why many who agreed whole-heartedly with the rape exception are throwing up their hands and saying: this has gone too far, even for rape I oppose abortion.
The abortionist extremists are the ones who brought total bans to abortions upon society. (Abortionist extremists support abortion up to birth, for any reason, no other options offered at clinics.)
And the prolifers who allow no exception will watch this swing, yet again, to pro-abortion extremism.
A middle ground would have prevented this.
Here is a proposed middle ground - abortion only up to 12 weeks, like Switzerland, and a social worker must approve the request.
Up to 12 weeks should cover most rapes. Pro-life activists then raise awareness about the sanctity of life such that most women will not choose abortion, even in the case of rape.
Up to 12 weeks would make gender and ableist selection impossible.
No more targeting minority groups!
Abortion clinics would be departments in hospitals, not independent businesses! These departments offer referral to adoption and fostering choices, and counseling to combine forms of birth control for the next sexual encounter, such as the rhythm method and barrier method.
This compromise makes me queasy even as I write it - 12 weeks is in fact late in gestation.
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