I
don't know anyone who is for abortion as a preferred method of birth
control. In fact, most progressives know that we could get elective
abortion down close to zero if we would simply provide free birth
control and counseling to all women.
Every
woman's situation and pregnancy is different with a vast array of
different conditions such as numerous possible health issues
affecting the woman and the fetus along with a host of differing
social and economic issues involving the age of the mother, lack of
family support, education status, employ-ability, father abandonment
and other societal pressures.
My
abortion position comes down to this: Who is in the better position
to weigh all the different pressures and conditions to arrive at the
most sensible outcome, the woman who is intimately involved or the
government with a one size fits all proclamation?
Should
a woman be forced by the state to carry to term and give birth to a
mentally retarded child? Or a child with a deformed body? Or a
rapist's child? Or her father's child? What if she is only 15? Should
she be forced to quit school and get a menial job to try to take care
of a baby alone? Every situation is different and the woman is in the
best position to weigh the variety of conditions and make the choice;
not the government.
Now
if Republicans were serious about reducing abortions to near zero,
that could easily be achieved by providing free birth control and
education in its use to all young girls approaching puberty as has
been done in many other countries to great success. But no,
Republicans almost always oppose freely available birth control while
insisting on abstinence only and at the same time demand that all
women be forced to carry the resulting pregnancies to term, this is
cruel and misogynistic and this is why I am no longer a Republican.
