There are many arguments for choice, here is an article that argues the Pro-choice side. Please note that this in not the opinion or advice of AbortionCouncel.org. If you would like to see the pro choice arguments, please visit our anti-abortion page.
The Most Reasonable Arguments For Abortion
Even as pro life and pro choice abortion advocates continue to rail against one another, many of the most reasonable arguments for abortion get ignored by both sides. Often, the discussion descends into something that more closely resembles a religious war than any serious debate about legal policy and justice. Here is a look at some of the many pro abortion facts that often receive only minimal attention from the media and others.
When it comes to abortion pro life advocates often ignore one simple fact, women were aborting pregnancies long before it was legal to do so. By most estimates, tens of thousands of women were dying each year due to unsafe abortions performed in inferior medical environments by incompetent providers. Pro life abortion critics may claim to treasure life, but their disregard for the health and lives of these women is something that should not be overlooked.
Abortion pro choice advocates often cite rape and incest as legitimate reasons for a woman to abort a pregnancy, but let themselves be silenced by religious opponents who try to turn the conversation toward issues of morality. The fact is that there is nothing moral about forcing a woman who has been raped and impregnated to carry that embryo to term. In, fact it is one of the most immoral things that society could do.
Pro choice advocates need only point to religion’s own standards when arguing this aspect of the issue. There is ample evidence of these religions’ own inconsistencies in this area. For example, the sanctity of life that these people claim to honor has exceptions where issues of justice are concerned. That is why so many pro life advocates also support the pro death legal framework that enables the state to kill criminals.
By ignoring pro abortion arguments in the case of rape and incest, these opponents argue against justice for the female victims of these crimes. To force any woman to endure a pregnancy brought about by rape is to force her to recall the rape each and every day of her pregnant life. It is difficult to see how any person of moral or religious character could in any way consider that position to be a just one.
One of the best arguments for abortion or choice flows from the gender makeup of the political world. Despite major strides in equality, there is no arguing with the fact that women remain dramatically underrepresented in every area of government charged with making policy. Men have a disproportionate say in all matters of law, but that lack of proportion is especially egregious in this matter.
Like it or not, pregnancy impacts women far more than it affects men. Men who believe that they have a right to tell any woman what to do with her body are little different than those men of generations past who believed they had a right to own other human beings. Women are not property. Nor are they children who need the guidance and direction of males.
Religion is also one of the more common arguments used to counter pro choice advocates. Many fundamentalists consistently argue on the basis of their beliefs. The problem with that is that there are many aspects of religion that society chooses to keep out of the public square, and this issue should be included. For centuries, there has been a tradition of keeping religion and politics at arm’s length from one another.
In addition, there is the matter of poverty. Often, women are forced into poverty by legal policies that require them to have many children. By some estimates, nearly a third of all women are living in abject poverty. Most of these impoverished women have been forced to bear as many as four, five, or even six children each.
Had these women retained their reproductive rights, their circumstances could have been far different. Worse, a large percentage of the women in the world can be raped by their husbands or other men without the rapists facing any legal consequences whatsoever. The denial of these women’s reproductive rights only adds further insult to that injury by consigning them to a permanent state of poverty.
There are many reasons for abortion to remain legal, and they should all be considered mainstream arguments by rational people everywhere. They involve issues of morality and justice, and deserve to be heard in the public square whenever the discussion turns to this topic. For both men and women who respect women’s rights, these arguments for abortion rights should be raised in any debate with opponents.