#86: Pro-Life for ALL Life (PART 1)

【Abortion】
Last month, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that established the constitutional right to abortion in the first two trimesters of pregnancy.
 
Consequently, this reversal gives each of the 50 individual states the power to set their own abortion laws until such time that the US Congress passes a federal law. Following this new ruling, abortion has already become automatically outlawed or severely restricted, or is expected to be, in at least 22 of the conservative states such as Alabama and Louisiana.
 
In many countries including the US where Christianity (and more specifically its largest branch Catholic) penetrates the society in a significant capacity, abortion is a hot topic of debate both religiously and politically. It’s reported that roughly 800 thousand pregnancies end up in abortion in the US every year, 160 thousand in Japan, and 73 million worldwide. Given such level of prevalence, it’s certainly an issue that we all must honestly face.
 
First and foremost, we must begin by reminding ourselves of the unwavering fact that each of these incidences involves a real life of a baby, a human life.
 
For this reason, the pro-life movement in America advocates against abortion to save baby’s life. However, in recent years, this movement has morphed into a more draconian anti-abortion effort driven by the conservative spheres of the society.
 
On the other hand, the pro-choice movement in America advocates for the women’s right to make her own reproductive health choices and retain control over her own body. This movement is largely driven by the liberal spheres of the society.
 
Against the backdrop of these movements, it’s fair to say that this new Supreme Court ruling gives baby’s life a clear priority over women’s right.
 
To be clear, to protect a baby’s life, a human life, it’s imperative to stop abortion. It’s also a sincere hope to stop the careless and unintended pregnancies that perhaps all too often end up having to rely on abortion.
 
Moreover, for mothers who can’t care for her baby after giving birth--such as often in the case of teen pregnancies. Roughly 10% of women who elect for abortion in the US are adolescents under the age of 19.
 
Yet, it’s also true that the adoption infrastructure in America is secure and robust today. Roughly 140 thousand children are adopted every year, and it’s estimated that between 1 to 2 million couples are waiting to adopt.
 
These adoptive parents may be those who couldn’t conceive their own baby but nonetheless are ready to become parents. Or, they perhaps already are blessed with their own babies or grown children, but are also willing to help other children in need of parental love and care. Today, saving and entrusting the baby’s life to adoptive parents is an established alternative to abortion in the US.
 
Notwithstanding the foregoing, it’s also true that the abortion issue can’t be resolved by these measures alone.
 
For instance, when abortion is necessary to save the life of the mother. One such situation is ectopic pregnancy where the fetus attaches itself and grows outside the uterus. Unfortunately, ectopic pregnancy is unviable--as the fetus develops in a constricted space, it will burst around Week 7 of pregnancy, whereby the induced shock and bleeding will critically jeopardize the life of the mother.
 
Regrettably, there is neither enough space nor sufficient nutrition for the fetus to grow outside the uterus--the fetus can’t survive under such condition even if the mother continued with her pregnancy without regard to her own life. Every year, ectopic pregnancy affects approximately 64 thousand women in the US. Despite such reality, banning abortion altogether means to not protect the life of the mother.
 
As pro-life is to protect all life, this creates an appalling contradiction.
 
What’s more, over 32 thousand women get pregnant from rape and incest each year in the US. Even if the newly born baby can be entrusted to adoptive parents, the mother endures not only the horrors of sexual violence, but also the secondary mental/physical injury for the next 9 months until giving birth. There are just too many women who are subjected to a life-long suffering from such trauma.
 
Additionally, throughout history and even today, not only in America but also worldwide, many women with unintended pregnancy seek unsafe abortion often carried out on her own. This remains true especially in countries and regions where abortion is banned.
 
Globally, 17 million unsafe abortions without the professional medical care are performed every year, and 70 thousand women die from them. Due to the lack of professional care, not only the baby, but also the mother dies. Even when the mother survives, many suffer from the consequential life-long disabilities.
 
This too, is a shocking contradiction to pro-life for ALL life.

Read Next: Pro-Life for ALL Life (2)【Social Inequality】

​Complete Series: Pro-Life for ALL Life (1)～(3)
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