“Abortion”

            The existence of legal abortion drives many American citizens into an emotional, and illogical, frenzy that’s spun our country out of control. This one issue on protecting innocent, unborn babies drives voters to select men and women for governmental positions based on the litmus test on abolishing Roe v. Wade. The manipulation of voters on this one issue has deposited us into the mire we face today.

            Potential. That’s the word that gets thrown around a lot by people wanting to change abortion laws. They rant and rail that the potential of a fetus is sacred. They insist that no one has the right to murder that potential.

            As a teacher, I experienced with several students their turmoil and resolution of unplanned pregnancies. One parent confided that her twelve-year-old daughter fell madly in love with the fifteen-year-old boy across the street. The girl didn’t even know what she did to get pregnant. Her mother and father, along with the advice of their family doctor, opted for a safe and legal abortion because their living, breathing, vibrant daughter’s potential was more important.

            Although some anti-choice groups allow for incest and rape, others don’t even want to provide that choice to victims. The freshman girl I had whose sexual abuse by her father and brother had her own potential. Would forcing her to bring to term a baby do more or less harm to her than allowing her choice to terminate the pregnancy? Her pregnancy revealed her situation and removed her from a nightmare. The abortion gave her a chance of a better future. Taken away from her family, coupled with extensive counseling, her potential amplified.

            The women I’ve know who sought safe and legal abortions had various reasons for their choices. These well-educated women had their own potentials to reach. One woman and her husband couldn’t afford a fourth child. When their birth control failed, they determined the financial burden would undermine the future of their other children. They weighed their decision carefully and used a safe and legal option to protect the potential of their family. One woman, a medical professional, had her birth control fail. I remember thinking, “If it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.” She deliberated her career, the relationships the unplanned pregnancy would impact, and decided that the potential of all of the adult lives involved outweighed the possibilities of a child she knew she didn’t want and feared she could never love.

            These girls and women all had choices under our legal system. This is personal. This is a basic right that each of the women needed at a pivotal point in her life. None of them made their decisions without deliberation. All of them weighed their own aspirations and sought out their own potentials to make the best futures for themselves.

 

Copyright 2020 Elizabeth Abrams Chapman

My novel, The Golden Bracelet, deals with the ramifications of a pregnancy on young, vibrant Ginny after she's raped Feel free to follow the link below to follow her journey.

https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Bracelet-Elizabeth-Abrams-Chapman-ebook/dp/B076JR8N26/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Golden+Bracelet+novel&qid=1586104179&sr=8-1