I hope nobody will be offended by this statement, but this is actually what I believe. Hate it or love it, it is still my opinion.
As I see it, a pregnant woman is still one individual (as opposed to two different beings, the mother and the child) until the time when the child can survive outside the womb. AFAIK, the youngest surviving premature child was born after 25 weeks.
This means that I am for abortion up to this time, but not past it. That does not mean, however, that any reckless and careless woman who ends up with a baby one way or the other should be allowed to take an abortion any time she feels like it the first 25 weeks of pregnancy. But it is a fact that the regular 12 weeks in wich you legally can have an abortion (at least it's 12 weeks in Norway) can go past before you actually know you are pregnant.
Now, don't tell me that because I'm a man I don't know anything about pregnancy. I do. But there are women who have their period their whole pregnancy, and some women might actually even fail to notice that they don't have their period those 12 weeks. Also, women with low weight or with some sicknesses, don't have their periods anyway, and thus don't notice that it's gone.
As for the size of the womans tummy, it doesn't grow much the first three months, and those women who notice it, may believe it is an unwanted increase in bodyweight.
To summarize:
Women should be allowed to make their own decision about if they want an abortion or not during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, but should be allowed to apply for an abortion all the way to the 25th week.
Accidents happen, and as has been stated before, bringing up children in less than ideal conditions can fail any number of ways. That some of these originally unwanted children become loved and properly cared for, isn't in itself a good enough reason to ban abortion altogether. That would be an insult to those children who don't get to be loved, and who feel unwelcome.
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If any of you will flame me for this, be my guest. Please, tell me where you think I'm wrong, I'm interested to know it. Ironically I've found that the only way to get an opinion of your own is to listen to the opinion of others. |
