Abortion Should Be a Woman’s Choice

Abortion+Should+Be+a+Woman%E2%80%99s+Choice

Imani Rivers

During his campaign for the White House, President Trump expressed numerous intolerable and hateful stances regarding various issues. The comment that appalled me the most was that women should be punished for having an abortion. He should not have made that statement; regardless of his stance on abortion, what a woman does with her body should not concern him.

About a month ago, I was on Twitter and I came across people making comments about Ohio’s “Heartbeat Bill.” The bill – passed by the Ohio Senate and House bans a woman from receiving an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which typically occurs at six weeks into a pregnancy. The problem I have is that even if a woman is raped or in an incestuous relationship, the bill still prohibits her from attaining an abortion. Furthermore, any doctor who goes against the bill will be punished.

I believe there to be a huge flaw in this new law because on average, it takes up to four weeks before a woman realizes that she may be pregnant; moreover, many doctors will not be able to schedule an appointment for the expecting mother until after six to eight weeks. Clearly, this new bill makes it virtually impossible for a woman to get an abortion.

Ohio decided to attempt to pass the ‘Heartbeat Bill’ because of the new President and because of the promises he made to appoint new conservative Supreme Court Justices. Ohio lawmakers claim they want this bill passed because they are trying to look out for the children at every stage of life. However, what they seem to be inadvertently doing is making the lives of women potentially harder, which will thus make the child’s life hard as well. Even though this bill was eventually vetoed by Ohio’s governor, some states have made decisions to make their abortion laws stricter.

I do understand the pro-life side and I respect their opinions regarding the issue; I recognize that somebody’s unborn child has the potential to be great and that by having an abortion, that possibility is taken away. Unfortunately, the problem with people that have pro-life beliefs is that they fail to see the reasons behind people like me, who are pro-choice. Many say that if the woman didn’t want a child, then she should have protected herself. But one of the main reasons that women get abortions is because they used a form of contraception that failed to work.

There are many reasons behind why a woman would want or need to get an abortion. Some women don’t want children, can’t afford having a child, or the timing is just bad – so why shouldn’t they be able to do what they think is right for themselves? Also, many women and young girls get raped or are in incestuous relationships, and sometimes these extremely unfortunate events end up resulting in a fetus that isn’t wanted.

Many pro-life supporters say that a woman should just give the baby up for adoption if she doesn’t want it, regardless of the situation, because the child will have a better life. However, there are millions of children that are in the adoption and foster care system, some have been there all their lives. Also, many may never get adopted because they are “too old”. Sometimes adoption isn’t the better option.

The statement “it’s not your body so it shouldn’t concern you” is a very widespread pro-choice statement but so many people get offended when it’s said to them. If a woman is pregnant and is considering an abortion, it is not your place to berate her or tell her that she’s wrong for considering it. I can understand if the father of the child wants to keep it and wants to try to convince the mother, but if you are not involved in the situation then you really shouldn’t have any say regardless of what you think is right. If it’s not harming you in anyway then you shouldn’t be putting your nose or opinion in somebody else’s business.