In 1973 the Supreme Court decision known as Roe vs. Wade, made it possible for women to have safe and legal abortions by well-trained professionals. This decision not only gave a woman the right to choose, but it drastically decreased pregnancy-related injury and death. Now the policy proposal has been made to close abortion clinics, thus making it virtually impossible for a woman to receive an abortion. Although this proposal’s stated goal is to close the clinics, its hidden goal is to outlaw abortion altogether. It is very clear that abortions cannot be performed if there is no legal place to perform them.
With abortion clinics closed, a women’s right to choose is taken away. In order for women’s right to choose to remain available, the abortion clinics need to remain open. Closing abortion clinics makes it impossible for a lot of women to have an abortion. Whether or not to have the abortion should be the women’s right, but when there are no providers of abortion around, the choice has already been made for her. Closing up the clinics higher the barriers of having an abortion. When the barriers get too high, this means for some women, the right to make their own choices in life is taken away.
A women’s life is her life, and she should be able to make the choices that will effect it. Up until 1973, abortions were illegal. Punishment of abortion did not greatly reduce the number of women who sought it. Between 1880 and 1973 thousands of women died and/or suffered medical problems after attempting to self-induce an abortion, or after going to an untrained professional who preformed cheap and unsanitary abortions. Women will continue to attempt and succeed in ending unwanted pregnancies. With this, a lot of women will risk their health and life doing so.
With abortion clinics still available, women who do choose to have an abortion will at least do it in a safe and clean way. A woman should not have to put her life in danger in order to receive and abortion. With local abortion clinics closed demand will stay the same but availability will be rapidly decreased. Thus women will have to wait longer to receive an abortion and get treated later in her pregnancy. Medical experts say that the longer a women waits to have an abortion, the higher the risk of health problems associated with that abortion.
Closing abortion clinics will not stop women from receiving abortions, it will just make them wait longer and put their health on the line when she actually does have one. So if the women decides that she still wants an abortion even though there are no clinics in her state, she will most likely have to travel to a state or country that has them. This will greatly increase the cost of an abortion. For many women the cost of the abortion itself is a great financial burden. Now not only will the women have to pay for the abortion, they will have to pay for travel costs, hotel fees and any other expenses incurred by traveling.
If the women must travel a long way she will most likely have to take time off work, which many women can just not afford to do. With all these expenses an abortion may not be financially possible for some women. A women’s right to choose should not depend on whether or not she has the money to pay for these extra expenses. There are many circumstances where abortion seems like a better choice then having the child. A mother should not have to bring an unwanted child into this world, knowing that she will not be able to take care of it. Some women barely make enough money to support themselves.
If they bring a child into this world under that circumstance then it is very likely that the child will have to live in great poverty. A woman should not have to give birth to a child knowing that she is not able to financially or emotionally provide for it. Another circumstance where abortion seems like a good and understandable choice is rape. A young girl is raped, and now is forced to have the child of the man that ruined her life. She should not have to give birth to a child that will be an everyday reminder that she was raped. After a women is raped the last thing she wants to see is the man who did it.
If she had to see the child of that man everyday, that would just be too much. A child should have the right to have its father in its life. If a woman is raped and has to give birth to the child then the father will not be able to be in its life. The father will either be in jail or the mother will just not want to have anything to do with him. Then when the child grows up and asks the mother where its daddy is, what will the mother say? The child has the right to know the truth but a mother could simply not tell the child that their daddy raped her.
The mother would have to make up a story about where the farther is and stick with it for the rest of her life. The mother did not choose to take the responsibility for the child, so she should not be forced into having it. One more circumstance is if a mother finds out that her baby is severely handicapped. If she knows that the child will not be able to live a normal and productive life and she knows that she will not be able to provide the constant care it needs, she should not be forced into having it. A lot of parents both work in order to support themselves and their children.
If the child needs round the clock care then the working parents will not be able to provide it. They will be forced to hire a nurse with is very expensive and the nurse will spend more time with the child then the parent, thus making the nurse more like a mother or father figure. If the mother knows the child will live a miserable life, she should not be forced into having it. Pro-life advocates argue that abortion is the best decision for a woman with an unwanted pregnancy. Looking at the list of the children waiting to be adopted, giving up your child for adoption just adds one more name to that list.
The child will have to be labeled as an orphan and life in orphanages for a large part of its life. Some children do not get adopted until later in life, which means they missed out on their childhood. They never had the chance to open their stocking on Christmas morning or go to the park with their mom. The child may have to be moved from family to family, town to town, and school to school. This makes it very hard for them to make friends and live a stable life. Although adoption may seem like a better choice then abortion, in reality it may not always be the best choice.
The main advantage of closing abortion clinics could be that women would be forced to care for and take responsibility for their child. But in reality the demand for abortions will remain the same. It will just be more difficult and expensive for the women to have one. The longer she waits the more harmful it may be for her health. A woman may not be able to have an abortion just because she is not financially able to travel to an abortion clinic. She may also not have enough money to raise the child properly. If the woman is raped or the child has severe handicaps, it is in the best interest of the child for her to not have it.
Getting an abortion does not always mean that the woman is thinking of her own good; she is thinking of the child’s as well. Whether or not to get an abortion is a very hard decision and is often preceded by a very long thought process. Abortion clinics do not force abortions on women, or make the choice any easier. They simply are there to help you if you do make the choice to have one. People against abortion have the choice to not have one. So people who are for abortion should have to choice to have one. It all comes down to the women’s choice. Women’s right to choose is very precious and needs to remain available.