By Scotlyn McConnell
In this article I’m going to be discussing the “A word”. Maybe not the one you’re thinking of though. This isn’t the word you get a call from your child’s teacher about, but rather the one being discussed in every political forum in America. Abortion. Now, don’t let me lose you here. I know these waters are muddy, and I know I won’t be able to clean the entire ocean, but let’s see if I can make your own pool a little clearer. I’m doing this because I am constantly surrounded with different opinions on this issue. As a passionate women’s rights activist, I have a strong view on this topic.
First I would like to give a brief lesson in where U.S law currently stands on abortion. Abortion in the United States is currently legal thanks to the case of Roe v. Wade which came to a conclusion in 1974. However, it is not federally dictated, meaning that each state can decide whether they will allow abortions and what regulations will be in place. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_in_the_United_States_by_state)
Now I’d like to talk about the laws in Indiana specifically. Currently, it is only legal for a woman to get an abortion in the first trimester of her pregnancy. A woman can only get an abortion after that if deemed absolutely necessary by a medical professional. There is also a need for parental consent if the patient is under the age of 18. If a woman has an abortion done illegally, she will be tried with a class C felony. (http://statelaws.findlaw.com/indiana-law/indiana-abortion-laws.html)
Now that that’s out of the way, I want to talk about some of the arguments brought up when discussing abortion. The issue of church and state is a very large one when it comes to this topic. Now, everyone has the right to believe in whatever religious things they want, however, constitutionally, we can’t place our personal religious beliefs on another person.
Another non-religious pro-life argument is that not getting an abortion is better for a woman’s health. This can be disputed with the slew of things that could go wrong in a pregnancy. From chronic high blood pressure to heart complications, a woman’s entire body is at risk during a pregnancy and a birth.
Her entire body, of course, includes her brain. Lots of new parents have a moment of freezing up when their child is born. However, this expands further than a few weeks of panic. Around 20% of moms will suffer from postpartum depression. This severe form of depression can follow a new mother for months on end, along with a whole array of body confidence issues. In no way do I want this to scare you away from having a baby. If you take care of yourself while pregnant, there’s little chance these things will happen, but you can’t just ignore the things that might go wrong.
In the end, everyone is absolutely allowed to have their own opinions on the topic. But just like with everything else, it is good to have an educated argument to back up what you’re talking about. I know that in this article I just talked about pro-life arguments, but there’s a very simple reason for this. The pro-choice supporters have one central idea, it is a woman’s right to do what she wants with her body.
