10 reasons to have an abortion?

Recently, parenting site Mommyish printed an article called “10 Reasons to Have an Abortion – Illustrated by Adorable Cats.” In addition to being outrageously callous, the article also fails to provide women with real facts. For starters, the author writes:

I’m a cat fan, and I would rather look at cats than whatever comes up when you search photo websites for “abortion.”

Hmm…indeed. I’ll be the first to admit that it’s easier to look at photos of cute cats than to look at photos of real abortions. Or a video of what abortion really is. But what informs women more accurately? Reality? Or an unrelated subject? How can it be truly empowering to encourage women to avoid the truth?

Since Mommyish is known as a parenting site, the author also makes an attempt to explain why an article on abortion (i.e., getting rid of your children) is posted on the site:

Mommyish is a parenting website. We support all parents, including…people who don’t want to become parents.

Ok, so you “support” people who don’t want to be parents by encouraging them to kill the children they don’t want to parent? Wow. Sounds like a scary method of “parenting” to me.

Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I need to tell you that the list only has nine reasons – even though it claims to have ten, and even though the author claims she could think of “a hundred or so more.”

This list is by no means inclusive, and I could have probably easily come up with a hundred or so more reasons why someone should have an abortion.

Note the sentiment that someone “should” have an abortion for these reasons. So much for “choice.”

Let’s get into the ten…er, nine…reasons:

1) Having a Baby Would Endanger Your Life

This seems to be stated as a fact – i.e., “You should have an abortion because a baby will endanger your life.”  The author provides no facts to back up this very inaccurate assertion. Of course, childbirth and pregnancy can, in some scenarios, endanger a woman’s life. But women should be encouraged to find a doctor who is an expert in high-risk pregnancies. They should be informed that advances in medicine have made it possible for both them and their child to survive the pregnancy in most cases. And, women should definitely be informed that abortion can endanger their life as well as their physical, mental, and emotional health.

2) Your Birth Control Failed

Failure of birth control is not a reason to kill a child who was created through an act that a woman chose to participate in. If a person is adult enough to have sex, they should be adult enough to take responsibility for a natural consequence of their actions. And it is widely known that participating in sex may result in the creation of a child.

3) You Don’t Want to Have a Child Because of Your Career

So, the answer to a successful career is killing your child? I happen to know there are many successful women who did not use the dead bodies of their children as stepping stones to success. Talk about keeping women in the Dark Ages. Do we really want to broadcast to women that, in order to have the career they want, they must kill their children? How is it empowering to declare that success calls for the blood of children?

4) You Feel You Are Too Young

Yes, some women are too young to raise a child (though you may be surprised at how many young moms do an excellent job). But adoption – and a young mom who does her best – are both much better answers than murder. Young woman can receive help, support, and resources from their local pregnancy centers. Many young women choose open adoption. Today’s system also allows a woman to handpick the family for her child. Embrace Grace illustrates the stories of many young women – some who choose to raise their children and some who choose the gift of adoption.

5) You Feel You Are Too Old

There are many “un-ideal” circumstances in which to have a child. But these circumstances – including advanced maternal age – do not justify killing an innocent child. Children would rather have an old mother than a mother who kills them. And, as stated above, many doctors are quite skilled at dealing with high-risk pregnancies today. Not to mention that it’s becoming fairly common to have children in your 40’s today.

6) You Feel Strongly About Overpopulation

Does overpopulation justify killing your neighbor? A random person in the grocery store? Yourself? Clearly not. Overpopulation does not justify killing any human being – including an unborn human being.

7) You Are Worried About the Health of the Baby

Sadly, there are some situations in which the unborn baby is suffering from a defect or disability. But parents with children who are sick or disabled should be directed to accurate information – not urged to abort immediately as so often happens. Parents need to realize that many medical professionals give the worst case scenarios, and are also sometimes wrong in their prenatal diagnoses. Some doctors even give inaccurate information to cover their own liability. And many doctors push women to abort now before they get a full picture of their child’s situation. Also, parents should be encouraged to read about the experiences of parents who gave life to their children with defects. These beautiful stories remind us that life is always worth saving.

8) You Want No Relationship With the Person Who Got You Pregnant

Clinton Wilcox, in his excellent rebuttal to the Mommyish article, writes this:

Ms. Vawter [the author] says that if you get pregnant from a one-night stand, that’s enough justification to get an abortion. She indicates rape and incest, which are difficult cases to be sure, but if someone’s father is a criminal, that doesn’t make the child any less valuable because of it. A difficult situation simply does not justify murder. And to the case of a one-night stand, I can only say, give me a break. Apparently Ms. Vawter believes that women should not be held responsible for their actions, which leads me to wonder which side is really the one that doesn’t trust women?

Indeed. As a side-note, pro-lifers should certainly fight to take away parental rights from rapists and to care for women who are the victims of rape or incest. But no child deserves to be put to death for the crimes of her father. Many women who are raped describe abortion as a “second rape” that does nothing to heal them and, in fact, makes their tragic situation even worse.

9) You Don’t Want to Have a Child (for whatever reason)

In no other situation does selfishness justify murder. It shouldn’t in this situation either. And, as Wilcox puts it, “Once a woman conceives she already has a child.”

Check back this weekend for 10 reasons not to have an abortion.