My views on abortion

Leah Rowe

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Article published by: Leah Rowe

Date of publication: 8 October 2024

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

Trigger warnings: survivors must not read this article.

I’m mainly writing this article on a whim. I’ve been monitoring the news about the upcoming national elections in the US, and there is a real danger that a nationwide abortion ban might come into effect in that country, if Donald Trump is elected.

My own views on abortion are mixed, and very personal. My mother gave birth to me when she was 19, and the man who planted his seed in her was extremely violent; abusive, physically and mentally, and he regularly raped her. She ran away from him when I was only a few months old; I’m told that at one point he actually kicked me down the stairs in my pram, while he was angry. It’s quite possible that I am infact the product of rape; even if I’m not, and my inception was created out of love and passion (before he turned nasty), or on a good day when he wasn’t acting like a complete psychopath and she felt good, the fact of the matter is that this man terrorised my mother. I’ve never met my sperm donor since then, nor will I; that’s all he is, a sperm donor. An insane person (he was sectioned and later diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder).

My mother later met my step dad, who I regard as my real father, because he took me in as one of his own. So for my purposes, he is my dad. She met him when I was about a year old, on holiday. His parents (my paternal grandparents, as I consider them) were also loving. They, my parents, have always provided for me, even to this day, and I can safely say that I have come from a loving home. That is to say: I came from a loving home since about 1992 (born in 1991).

Abortion was legal in the UK, when my mother had me. It still is legal (with certain restrictions, and you need doctor’s consent and doctors can object for various reasons; it is not a right enshrined in law, but in practise many women get abortions).

Law and culture are two sides of a coin, and i see that abortion is regularly encouraged in society; they specifically cite cases such as my mother. What if my mother had decided to have an abortion? If I look at other women in similar situations, I’d sympathise and not try to stop her from having one. It’s her legal right, but what about the child? I was that child, 32 years ago.

My basic position is this: abortion should be allowed. A doctor must not be compelled to do it; they can and should object if they wish to, and you can find another doctor who will consent to it. I also think that it shouldn’t be done after about 3 months.

But I only say that it should be permitted; I also say that it should not be restricted, aside from limiting by virtue of trimesters; if a woman absolutely wants or needs to have an abortion, that is her choice. But it should be discouraged.

I think that in each case, abortion should always be the final choice, after all others are exhausted. There are always ways. All life is special, and should be protected. I also realise the extreme emotional trauma that comes from having an abortion; it’s a huge decision, with deep personal consequences for the person involved, and there is often deep guilt. But if there’s no other way, then it should be done.

I think abortion is basically evil, but a necessary evil because the alternative is worse. We have seen in history that when abortion is simply banned outright, the result is that they still occur, but many women die at the hands of unlicensed doctors, often bleeding out, alone and in agony. Let’s also not forget that many women will just suffer extreme trauma if forced to have an unwanted child; think post mortem depression, and trauma resulting from domestic abuse. A child is often used by an abusive father as a pawn, making the woman feel like she is trapped and can’t get out. The child is likely to also be abused, by an abusive father; my mother was lucky, as was I, because she escaped, and found a better man to take care of us.

But life goes on, and people can get better. Life is precious. I’m not even religious; I consider myself an atheist. The statement “life is precious” should be common sense, but many people don’t consider a person to exist until they are born. I think that’s wrong. When you talk about abortion, you are talking about two people: the woman and the child. The child has no way to defend themself when you cut them.

So in a nutshell, I can say: I’m pro-life in principle, but pro-choice in practise. Many other babies like myself are being born as I write this article. Who’s to say that they and the mother will have a worse life? When things are bad, they can always get better. When you kill your unborn child, you aren’t just ending a life; you are preventing that child from growing to be all the things they will ever be. They could be the next Einstein. They could find a simple cure for every cancer where you just take pills.

Or that child could just grow up to be a complete dumbass like me.

I wanted to write more, but I can’t really be bothered. Like I said, I’m writing this mostly on a whim. But this topic is very important to me. When I think about abortion, all I see is death. I see myself being killed. That is what I see.

But that’s only what I feel. My rational mind tells me that most anti-abortionists also want to take away other things, such as trans rights or gay rights. Which is why I beg my American readers to please vote for the Democratic party this year. The GOP is absolutely fucking nuts; some of them are OK and I would generally support the Libertarians. Alas, modern GOP is no longer the party of Ronald Raygun. Please vote for the Democrats. I know how much they stink. I’m a conservative myself. But you got liberals or nazis this year, so please vote for the liberals.

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