Perspectives on Abortion: Number One
I've been thinking about writing a post about abortion for quite a while, now, but lately, I've had a lot of exposure to many different [conflicting] perspectives on abortion. From now until January 22nd [the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade], I will be exploring some of these perspectives here.
So, I start with an article from Skirt!, a monthly magazine written primarily for and by women, although I think men would certainly benefit from reading it. It is a free publication, and I pick it up almost every month. I usually end up reading it cover to cover, which says a lot for it, and I find myself thinking, often, about the articles in it.
In November, one of the featured articles was an essay by Allison Piepmeier, who is the director of the Women and Gender Studies program at College of Charleston. The article, entitled "Choosing Us," is a bravely narrated personal story about an abortion. Piepmeier--who was in a stable marital relationship, employed, and an adult--describes the circumstances of her unwanted pregnancy, which happened despite the use of birth control. She further explains the reasons why she and her husband decided to abort the fetus; more importantly, she stresses the difficulty of the decision, the magical thinking [" I wondered, are you even allowed to reject a gift like that without disastrous consequences?"], the rationality they tried to use ["How would we feel about having a baby right now? (Scared out of our minds.)"], the thoughts that made the decision harder ["I would think, 'I’m pregnant right now. I wonder if it’s a girl or a boy.'"].
More than anything, though, I think this essay most affected me because it is a perfect example of the reason we have legalized abortion. This is a couple that felt unprepared to have an unplanned child. This is not a couple or an individual who was careless, who didn't use protection, who attempted to use abortion in lieu of birth control. This is our legalized abortion system working for a family who wanted children, but due to circumstances, did not feel like the present was the best time.
Many women slammed Piepmeier for making what they called a "selfish" decision, in deciding that the pregnancy came at an "inconvenient" time. But abortion rights are in place so that women may become the most fit mothers possible. Or, at least, so that people who believe that they--in their circumstances--may not be fit to be the best parent possible can wait until they are more fit.
Right now, I have a fairly floppy idea of how I feel about abortion. I don't know if I will ever have a solid perspective on it. Right now, I feel that abortions should be legal and that partial birth abortions should be illegal. I feel that I would never abort a child who I knew to be healthy and have the possibility of a high quality of life. But really--I don't know if I can say that with one hundred percent surety. What if I got pregnant right now, in the middle of my medical school career? What if I got pregnant, and I knew it would be a bad time to go off of the medicines that keep my mind stable? Is it worse for a baby to be aborted or to be born to a mother who is, at that time, unstable and unprepared for the mental challenges of pregnancy and motherhood?
The truth is, I want to be a mother very badly. It is an odd drive, and one that I'm ok with, because I know that it will be fulfilled eventually. More than that, however, I know that I have a lot to take care of--more than most people--before I bear a child. I need to have a therapist I can see on a weekly basis; I need to either find alternative pharmacological management or discontinue pharmacological management for my bipolar disorder; I need to optimize fertility so that the time I am not on my medicine is minimized.
So, really--this is why I am writing these blogs about abortion. The perspectives are more varied than one can imagine, and I--as a scientist, as a future Ob/Gyn, as a mentally ill individual, as a woman--have several to examine.
So, I start with an article from Skirt!, a monthly magazine written primarily for and by women, although I think men would certainly benefit from reading it. It is a free publication, and I pick it up almost every month. I usually end up reading it cover to cover, which says a lot for it, and I find myself thinking, often, about the articles in it.
In November, one of the featured articles was an essay by Allison Piepmeier, who is the director of the Women and Gender Studies program at College of Charleston. The article, entitled "Choosing Us," is a bravely narrated personal story about an abortion. Piepmeier--who was in a stable marital relationship, employed, and an adult--describes the circumstances of her unwanted pregnancy, which happened despite the use of birth control. She further explains the reasons why she and her husband decided to abort the fetus; more importantly, she stresses the difficulty of the decision, the magical thinking [" I wondered, are you even allowed to reject a gift like that without disastrous consequences?"], the rationality they tried to use ["How would we feel about having a baby right now? (Scared out of our minds.)"], the thoughts that made the decision harder ["I would think, 'I’m pregnant right now. I wonder if it’s a girl or a boy.'"].
More than anything, though, I think this essay most affected me because it is a perfect example of the reason we have legalized abortion. This is a couple that felt unprepared to have an unplanned child. This is not a couple or an individual who was careless, who didn't use protection, who attempted to use abortion in lieu of birth control. This is our legalized abortion system working for a family who wanted children, but due to circumstances, did not feel like the present was the best time.
Many women slammed Piepmeier for making what they called a "selfish" decision, in deciding that the pregnancy came at an "inconvenient" time. But abortion rights are in place so that women may become the most fit mothers possible. Or, at least, so that people who believe that they--in their circumstances--may not be fit to be the best parent possible can wait until they are more fit.
Right now, I have a fairly floppy idea of how I feel about abortion. I don't know if I will ever have a solid perspective on it. Right now, I feel that abortions should be legal and that partial birth abortions should be illegal. I feel that I would never abort a child who I knew to be healthy and have the possibility of a high quality of life. But really--I don't know if I can say that with one hundred percent surety. What if I got pregnant right now, in the middle of my medical school career? What if I got pregnant, and I knew it would be a bad time to go off of the medicines that keep my mind stable? Is it worse for a baby to be aborted or to be born to a mother who is, at that time, unstable and unprepared for the mental challenges of pregnancy and motherhood?
The truth is, I want to be a mother very badly. It is an odd drive, and one that I'm ok with, because I know that it will be fulfilled eventually. More than that, however, I know that I have a lot to take care of--more than most people--before I bear a child. I need to have a therapist I can see on a weekly basis; I need to either find alternative pharmacological management or discontinue pharmacological management for my bipolar disorder; I need to optimize fertility so that the time I am not on my medicine is minimized.
So, really--this is why I am writing these blogs about abortion. The perspectives are more varied than one can imagine, and I--as a scientist, as a future Ob/Gyn, as a mentally ill individual, as a woman--have several to examine.
posted by Another Chance to Get It Right at
11:42 PM
2 Comments:
I like this idea, and I can't wait to read the other perspectives you present. This is a tough issue and my current stance is the same as your current feelings, so it'll be interesting to see if anything you bring up changes that.
~Jacob
I have two children, and I just can't imagine making the decision to abort either of them. I was raised in a Christian household, but we didn't discuss really controversial issues like abortion. In my heart though, I've always been against it. Life is a gift, even when it comes at a bad time, or even worse, when it happens in a traumatic way. I'd like to think that if I was raped and found myself pregnant, I would have the child. But I've never been in that situation, so I can't say for certain what I would or would not do.
But I trust that God holds my life in His hands and that of any unborn fetus, no matter how it is conceived.
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