Abortion from a feminist perspective

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TheBlindWatchmaker's picture
Oh gee, a topic that

Oh gee, a topic that certainly hits home for me.

I barely know where to begin, which is odd considering I have but 4 months of pregnancy remaining.
Nevertheless, I feel compelled to share at least my view on the subject at hand.

Whilst I do want to be equal in all ways to men and have full control of my reproductive rights,
I don't think I could ever morally go through with a termination/abortion.

However, we are not a collective and everyone is different and therefore all wishes and thoughts should be considered.

Pregnancy is as mentally straining as it is physically, personally I have suffered far more emotionally then I thought I would.
Having said that, I can understand why some women would choose the opposite option to me under similar circumstances.

This has caught me a little off guard, perhaps I will try to articulate myself better at another time.

But I thank you all for raising awareness to this and the productive comments.

LogicFTW's picture
Thank you for sharing your

Thank you for sharing your insights TheBlindWatchmaker! As you definitely have a very unique and relevant reason to contribute your thoughts being truly in the thick of it, where for me it is always going to be hypothetical.

 
 

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TheBlindWatchmaker's picture
Thank you LogicFTW,

Thank you LogicFTW,

There are so many factors that change ones opinion on various points.

To be honest, the thought of another life growing inside me had always repulsed and terrified me,
but after the 14 week mark it begun to 'grow' on me, so to speak.

I always was and to a degree still am pro-choice as we should have full autonomy of our bodies,
but I feel a hypocrite of sorts as I know that even if my health came in to question I would put myself
in harms way to protect my baby.

LogicFTW's picture
@TheBlindWatchmaker

@TheBlindWatchmaker

.. as I know that even if my health came in to question I would put myself
in harms way to protect my baby.

Totally fair, that is the beauty of choice, you can absolutely chose to have the child and even put yourself in harms way to protect the child if needed, and I do not blame you at all, you absolutely have the choice to feel the life within you is precious, perhaps precious above all else.

My mother did not want to have kids, but when she got unplanned pregnancy, she still did not want to have kids but she definitely wanted to have that kid, (me.)

 
 

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turning_left's picture
Another aspect I think is

Another aspect I think is important to consider, especially when looking at the guilt and regret some women experience before and after abortion, is the pressure and judgment that many women experience (or anticipate) from others regarding abortion.

One of my best friends was raped, resulting in pregnancy. Because of the way she was raised, her community, etc. she felt that she couldn't possibly terminate the pregnancy because everyone said it was "wrong". She also found it impossible to deal with the emotional trauma of giving the baby up for adoption, so she kept it. It's now 5 years later and she has a gorgeous little girl whom she loves dearly. But I've had some frank conversations with her where she wonders if she made the right choice, or if she just made the choice she thought she was supposed to make. She sees the face of her rapist in her daughter's face and deals with PTSD on a daily basis. She's an amazing mom. And she also wonders what healing from her rape would have been like if she hadn't had her rapist's child.

Experiences of guilt, shame and regret are complicated. I know several Christians who experienced guilt and shame when they had sex for the first time on their wedding night. Not because sex is actually shameful, but because they had lived their whole lives up until then viewing sex that way. I wonder if some people who get abortions (or are considering getting one) could experience something similar around feelings of guilt or shame - not because they authentically think they made a bad decision, but because they've been taught that it's how they should feel.

LogicFTW's picture
Well said. Those mostly

Well said. Those mostly invisible social pressures can be difficult to separate out, especially in highly emotional moments, dealing with things a person has never dealt with before, there is going to be a powerful urge to look to others for what to do instead of inward because of the lack of experience of dealing with the issue before.

 
 

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