Mermaid Musings

So here is fodder for conversation: When is it not ok for a woman to have an abortion?

In reading Frances Kissling’s piece, my gut response is the original intention of the Roe decision: the decision to have an abortion should be left to the woman and her doctor. If a doctor feels s/he cannot ethically perform an abortion on a woman, then there is the decision and the woman is free to go along with her doctor’s ethics or find another doctor who is more comfortable with her wishes. I appreciate Frances intention that if we become as hard-line about the absolute morality of having an abortion, then we are little better than the anti-abortion folks who don’t think there is ever a good reason to have an abortion. I think the problem really lies in the fact that as a society, we’re always looking for absolutes: the one, right way that has to be followed every time by every person.

Certainly, I think most people would have some moral qualms about a woman choosing to have an abortion because she didn’t like the biological sex that her baby was going to be assigned, or even having an abortion because she didn’t want a baby born under a certain astrological sign. But I also think women making those decisions would be hard pressed to find a physician willing to perform a procedure for those reasons. As much as I believe the Roe decision was inadequate to protect a woman’s right to abortion, this one of those moments when I feel that the right to privacy is good to invoke.

As far as Joan Walsh’s answer to Mr. O’Reilly, that fetuses don’t need to be considered, I agree, in most abortions -the 90+% that are performed before 12 weeks- there isn’t much to consider in terms of the fetus’ rights. As far as the less than 2% that are performed after 24 weeks, I believe that the fetus is considered, heavily and when an abortion is performed, it is not done frivolously or without a lot of weighing of the decision.

Frankly, I think most people who favor reproductive justice and reproductive freedom are not fanatics and are willing to consider the complex moral issues involved in late-term abortions. However, it is difficult to discuss the complexity of these issues when our opponents work continuously to hamper women’s access to early abortion and work to eliminate the option for women entirely. Because, the issue isn’t really abortion. The issue is really about power and who is controlling women’s bodies and women’s sexuality. If we lived in a society in which women’s bodies and women’s sexuality were valued and appreciated and, dare I say, honored, then we could have reasonable conversations about the moral complexity of abortion. Because then there wouldn’t be the threat of taking away a woman’s right to decide her own future, her own life.