Abortion! An issue that I want to take a strong stand on yet cannot! There are two schools of thought about the topic “in my head”.1. You protect your life and your right to live with laws that punish people who take other people’s lives. Wouldn’t you like to afford the same right to a human fetus?
2. There are many girls who get pregnant unwillingly like rape victims. Don’t they have the right to set right what has been done wrong to their body via an abortion?
Both these arguments hold water. For the second group of people selective abortion can be advocated. BUT that would vitiate the principals of Thought No 1. That is the right to life. After all how many of us here had a choice to be born whether as a product of marriage or otherwise?
What do I think of abortion? I think it is abhorrent. It is like killing a child! It is murder! Because I think it is hypocritical to talk of human rights and political correctness and think naught of the unborn defenseless child!
On the other hand no one should take away the right of a woman who has been raped and unwilling to carry the product of that encounter as a constant reminder of her humiliation!
And in this debate we forget the tiny fetus that has absolutely no right or voice over its life! We were all tiny fetuses once upon a time! If we didn’t endure the pain of being chopped up or chemically killed it is because our parents or procreators chose not to.
Though I would not judge a woman who wants an abortion because she is pregnant after a rape, my heart will still cry for her unborn, condemned to dying because it was a fusion of lust and not love! Nature didn’t differentiate between the two when it created human procreation. Or we would all have been spared this discussion! What an interesting idea though! If a child were to be conceived only from two people who were in love, humans would have been extinct by now :p
In a country whose rivers are overflowing with female fetuses, posts like this are I guess laughably immature!
This post might seem confusing. It is…because I am confused about the topic!
Please note, this post does not have anything to do with my religious views or religious principles governing the matter.
13 comments:
exactly the same thoughts..am a bit confused about it as well..
In a superficial scenario if such a law is strictly followed, Would the child of the rape victim live like a normal child.Quite impossible atleast back home..!
It is a complicated topic with ethical, philosphical and relgious strings attached like an umblical cord.
It finally ends up being the question of whether it is better two kill one to avoid suffering for two.Some say the feutus is still the part of the womans body and hence not a seperate entity and therefore she has the rights to abort.
I cant conclude anything about the whole topic..Maybe selective abortion is a lesser crime man(infact woman) has to pay for the bigger crime of rape.
" If a child were to be conceived only from two people who were in love, humans would have been extinct by now :p"
That was sad and funny at the same time...
My views on abortion are pretty clear. The parents of the children (and the mother in particular) have the right to decide whether to have the child or not.
However, it is not easy to hold on to such a view and your dilemma is understandable. Death is repugnant - whether it is a week old foetus or a soldier who gets killed in a war. Circumstances in the lives of many of the people force us to accept such unpleasant realities as part of life.
The only way we can really do away with this ethical dilemma is to provide safe, efficient and affordable contraception to all women to ensure that they have a real choice when it comes to reproduction.
The stand I've taken on this (although ethically not perfectly sound) is because the rights of too many women are violated today and it would be cruel to condemn them to a life they didn't want. If asked to choose between the rights of a fully formed human and a foetus, I'd choose the rights of the fully-formed human. But I hope that some day in the near future we wouldn't be forced to make that choice.
A question that disturbs me every time i listen to pro-life talks.There was this nun who's a head nurse who was addressing us at a church sponsored women's meet.She made a few faint with gory descriptions of the abortion procedure.No one(including me)dared to put up the question of the rape victim for fear of being judged blasphemous.Don't think the Rev.Sr would have had a genuine answer anyway.No doubt about the part of snuffing out life of the unborn...but in the above case it would be shattering the girl's life as well.And in a slight deviation,in India where MTP is legal(with a blind eye on the clauses) and they still flash those "Save the Girl child "ads.When will we learn...
I echo your thought. It is a selective rather situational decision.
Its sad when married women abort their unborn girl fetus just because its a girl. Female infanticide is one of the major reasons for un ethical abortions in our country. Quacks get away with murder and so do qualified doctors. Despite the so called rules, nothing seems to have changed too.
However rape victims going for abortion is ok with me. Who would want to relive a nightmare for each living day, thats not a pleasant experience.
I used to be confused here too. Not anymore though. I still don't like the choices we have, but given the constraints, my mind's made up.
I'd rather let off a life than allow a child to come to the world unloved... unwanted. I think that crime is worse than murder. The quest is not for life, but for a 'good' life. Now, I do know that 'good' is subjective. There are grey areas here but really black areas exist too...
Society is a bitch. Not all children are treated the way they should be. There is no Utopia. At the risk of sounding heartless and clinically rigid, there is statistical support for unseemly growth for unwanted children. In Stephen Levitt's book, Freakonomics, one of the most memorable insights is the connection between the sudden decrease in crime and a bill approving abortion. Levitt suggested that the crime rate drop, which was explained inadequately by several sources, was actually the result of a rise in abortion.
People were not bringing in unloved and unwanted children. Those children were not driven into wrong paths by the hypocritic tridents of society. By the time these 'children who never were' could have turned in their early twenties had they been born, the crime rates dropped.
I'm not saying - Abort to reduce the crime rates. I'm saying - Look, the mere fact that this happened indicates the kind of tough choices in life they had to face. I say spare them the aggression.
Now without doubt, NO statement can cover the entire set. Even among those unfortunate children, there will be some number of people who grow up ok. So some of the abortions would result in gross injustice. But we can't figure out who will turn out fine, who will not. So what gives me the right to choose? Who gave me the right to condemn them? Nobody. But I'll go by statistics. And emotion. If one of MY friends face such a tragic situation, I will definitely advocate abortion. I will NOT want her to raise an unwanted child. I will not let her run her life AND her child's life to further misery. She's had enough trouble of her own, with her mishap and all. I think I could help her get through the remorse of abortion. It will pass. It is the lesser evil.
And if I ever had to suggest that, I really think I will not regret my decision.
But then the child conceived due to rape could be strong enough to handle the pains of being a product of lust and not love. I guess if the mother is strong enough, the child can be brought up with the dignity and right it deserves. Wish and hope women who go through such invasions would be strong. Coz at the end of the day, the child has every right to enter the world.
Mathew: "It is a complicated topic with ethical, philosophical and religious strings attached" And thats why I guess it is so confusing.You want to do the right thing. And what is right for you maybe grossly wrong for another!
Philip: I have to agree with you here.
Neena: The Nuns are doing what they think is right! They mean well in their own way. Come to think of it, what they preach "abstinence" makes sense and is what the West is also beginning to acknowledge! I once asked a Nun what a girl who was pregnant after rape should do. She said that she should carry the baby to full term and give it up for adoption! You are at liberty to make your own assumptions from that! :)
Deepti: Women abort female babies due to pressure from husband and in laws. They have no choice I have heard.
Hammy: Very interesting point about crime and abortions. You have a point that unloved babies grow up to be potential criminals!
Sunshine gal: Our society is our biggest stumbling block in many issues like this!
why cant we comment on Monday musings 2? i want to comment!!!
This comment is not neccessarily about the blog, but the writer.
Your truly amazing.....ur other blog is hilarious and over here u successfully cover a serious topic like this!!
HATS OFF to you Silverine...ohh Anjali - just noticed the change :)
Prasan: Thank you! :)
I am pro-choice when it comes to abortion. And here is why:
1. A fetus, uptill certain point cannot survive outside the mother's womb. At what point a bunch of cells becomes a life is still unclear, but until that point, the mother has the right to decide.
2. The question is not only about life, but the quality of life. An unborn child is not given the same love, attention that is deserving of a child. Or the parent may not be in a financially/emotionally stable condition to have a child. Then what?
One look at a tiny helpless foetus preserved in the glass cabinets in a biology lab will make anyone think twice before going for that big decision...
Sorry, but even I dont have a definite view... it's all a tangled bunch of ethical, moral, emotional, spiritual and biological stuff.
PS: First time reading this blog of urs... equally absorbing as your funny side.. bookmarking :)
I understand your plight.Went/going through same emotions.
I came across Karthick post first and I am posting the crux of what I posted there.
As an individual...I have a divided stand against abortion.I am against it when people do it for family planning purposes.But,I believe that, if there is no chance that the mother can look after the child ( like in rape cases).. its fine if the abortion takes place in the 2-8 weeks window.
What abt masturbation? What about contraceptives?Some say that "Conception is LIFE". I do not believe in it. Conception forms a life only around the first tri semester. Till then its just a bunch of cells which may or may not form a living human being. If the argument is that cells are living beings...then what abt cancer cells? If we can back track and say that CONCEPTION is life...then back track a little bit more and say that masturbation is a crime.What if someone says 'That sperm you just produced had its right to fuse with an ovum.'
Initially I was totally against it.But a real life experince where I had to argue/reason with a rape victim - an african american woman ( and she is not afraid to admit it ... she is working as a volunteer here in womans health division) about abortion changed my perspective. It was sort of an enlightenment ... and also a big hit on my ego that I knew something on the topic :).
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