Aaaaah-Bortion!
As I sat in my room with my Razer Orca headphones on, listening to the tunes of Sir Mix-A-lot’s Baby got back, I received a call from a desperate and distraught friend back in Singapore. In between uncontrollable sobs, muffled sounds of sniffing and the occasional awkward periods of short silent moments. I was informed of Sarah’s ‘unwanted accident’. Refusing to acknowledge any responsibility for the baby, her obnoxious boyfriend left her and fled the country. How odd, I thought to myself, that someone would go to such an extent over a matter that could so easily be rectified with a simple medical procedure at any neighbourhood clinic. Begging for advice and comfort, I told Sarah to abort the baby immediately.
Abortion was her only hope being single and attending a reputable University. The thought of standing amongst the crowd of a few thousand students in a maternity dress certainly would not come across as attractive or fashionable in the eyes of the student body. She had a lot more going for her self than playing mum and dad, while juggling her social life, in a make believe plastic doll house.
Scribbles on the back of the boy’s toilet and the amount of Durex and Okamoto wrappers scattered all over the school grounds would have given the Pope a run for his money. There will always be students having sex everywhere, despite the amount of abstinence programmes implemented by the Government and School Board. I remembered back in my senior year of secondary school, my friends and I would replay the events that happened in the back of our cars in great detail, with our girlfriends and all the mischief that took place. We were, after all. growing young boys and we had needs to be satisfied. People just want to have free sex. They want that more than almost anything else. If my memory serves me correctly, March’s issue of FHM Australia states that on average 70% of the population above the age of 16 have sex at least 3 times a week. Condoms, birth pills, contraceptives in general really aren’t fool-proof, besides from a male’s point of view, putting a condom on just doesn’t feel like the real deal, there’s less pleasure. So if they want to have sex for pleasure, abortions are going to be needed.
Being Pro-Choice and a believer in ‘self before someone else’ abortion is pretty much a necessity for modern life, for several reasons. Without abortion, women’s liberation is impossible. These days’ women must delay marriage and childbearing to focus on their careers. Sarah’s dream of walking down the catwalk in high heels, modelling skimpy clothes designed by high end famous fashion designers had to wait. However it would be unreasonable to expect them (or men, for that matter) to abstain from sex entirely through their mid to late twenties. True, we have contraceptive but they aren’t fool-proof; abortion is the ‘safety-net’ so either you give women the right to abortions or you counsel them to return to their traditional roles as mothers and wives. But for a number of obvious reasons, the latter option has been ruled out entirely. Even Obama, is pro choice and believes that by taking a woman’s rights to abortion, you are taking away her basic rights to her body.
Furthermore, with today’s modern society, traditional patterns of courtship and mating have been disrupted by things like industrialization and social modernization. In the past, (ideally) both partners would be virgins at marriage and they would engage in sexual intercourse only within the bounds of marriage. Whether or not this was always the case is something else entirely but that, at least, was the idea held up by society. But now this sort of thing is no longer viable for a large number of people. Both men and women have to delay marriage and childbearing but they can’t realistically be expected to abstain from sex for 25 plus years. Even if they wanted to get married young, it wouldn’t matter because things like school, work, and what not, force them to relocate constantly, typically breaking them up. So, again abortion is needed because people are forced to engage in ‘risky sex’ also known as sex out of wedlock.
Honestly, are 14 year olds even medically capable of carrying a child? Try and picture
the image of a little orphaned Vietnamese girl begging on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City with an oddly protruding tummy. Unwanted teenage pregnancy can have serious complications if the pregnancy is continued. An adolescent is not prepared at all and neither mentally or physically capable to continue a pregnancy. Never mind the health complications; they simply are not psychologically able or ready to handle the responsibilities of a child, forcing her to bear the added responsibility of the child she conceived through the unfortunate act would only add to her mental stress. To support a life takes away her entire future. Many of these girls drop out of school and end up working; spelling a bleak future for them and I certainly do not want that happening to someone I know.
Basically what I’m getting at here is that unless you can think of a way to turn back the historical processes of the last, say, 200 years or so, you are kind of forced to accept abortion, regardless of what your moral sentiments happen to be.
The biggest obstacle, we, supporters of abortion rights – pro-choice, face now is from the Church and all the other religious zealots who tirelessly ramble on and on about the aftermath of committing a hideous sin. The influential impact of Christianity in the continent of Africa has done little, but more destruction towards the struggling, overpopulated and civil war-torn countries. Plagued with Aids and HIV infected victims, the condemn of contraceptives and abortion by the Catholic Church, funded with millions of federal dollars by the then President of the United States George W. Bush, has led to almost 0 protection from sexually transmitted diseases and thousands of unwanted pregnancies. Abortion is illegal and highly frowned upon and even punishable by death in some states. Malnutrition mothers struggle to feed their premature baby with breast milk plagued and infected with pus and blood. Most of these impoverished babies end up dead before even reaching 12 months.
I come from a country where abortion is banned and any such equivalent procedure is deemed illegal, largely due to the fact that it is catholic based and influenced. The laws have its roots and ties to the bible. Facing the problem of corruption, poverty and overcrowding, little has been done to quell or ease the suffering of the people. Although I have never lived in Philippines for a time period of more than two months. I am not oblivious to the fact that there are individuals who practice the art of abortion in the dark back alleys of streets. With no proper instruments, medications or anaesthesia, these poor women have to endure forty minutes of blood gushing pain with a vacuum cleaner hose stuck in between their legs, while dark crimson blood drips down their feet. So why ban abortion when we all know it’s going to happen anyway? I would rather it be readily available than to know there’s some witch doctor, somewhere out there, kicking a woman in the tummy.
As and adamant supporter of abortion rights, I feel everyone has the right to their beliefs as long as it isn’t curtailing the rights of others and you can be pro-choice without being pro-abortion. Just be really careful! The status of an early-term foetus is entirely subjective and really depends on your personal history and outlook. You can see it romantically as a ‘potential life’ or ‘existing life’ or simply as a tiny blob of cells that could, but are in no way guaranteed to even without abortion, eventually replicate, grow and form themselves into a baby. Of course people are going to have different opinions on this.
And then, even if someone agreed with your (and I use the word in a general sense) definition of a foetus, there’s still no guarantee they’ll reach the same conclusion on the value of it. You have people who absolutely view a foetus as a baby, but still see cases where it’s ethically permissible to abort (or merely make an exception for themselves). You have people who see a foetus as a ‘potential life’, but determine that its still as valueless as an acorn compared to a tree, and people who see abortion as an atrocity like you. Then you have peopled who feel that a foetus is nothing in particular, but either do or don’t find an abortion an ethical practice for whatever reason.
As a person who exists between and encompasses both the ‘potential life’ and ‘blob of cells’ definition. I disagree with anyone that the potential of life is anywhere near as valuable as life itself, or that the potential for life should override the rights of the existing form of life (the mother) in regard to controlling what exists inside of her own body.
Pregnancy is not entirely about continuing a life inside the womb. With life comes great responsibility, to provide it with all the rights, love and comfort that it is entitled to. Sarah however is simply not ready or has the emotional maturity to raise a child and nurture it with tender love and care.
Act responsibly before creating a life, having to stand on the crossroads, deciding whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy is no easy task and certainly not as pleasurable as the act committed, that could have landed you in a predicament like this.
As I sat in my room with my Razer Orca headphones on, listening to the tunes of Sir Mix-A-lot’s Baby got back, I received a call from a desperate and distraught friend back in Singapore. In between uncontrollable sobs, muffled sounds of sniffing and the occasional awkward periods of short silent moments. I was informed of Sarah’s ‘unwanted accident’. Refusing to acknowledge any responsibility for the baby, her obnoxious boyfriend left her and fled the country. How odd, I thought to myself, that someone would go to such an extent over a matter that could so easily be rectified with a simple medical procedure at any neighbourhood clinic. Begging for advice and comfort, I told Sarah to abort the baby immediately.
Abortion was her only hope being single and attending a reputable University. The thought of standing amongst the crowd of a few thousand students in a maternity dress certainly would not come across as attractive or fashionable in the eyes of the student body. She had a lot more going for her self than playing mum and dad, while juggling her social life, in a make believe plastic doll house.
Scribbles on the back of the boy’s toilet and the amount of Durex and Okamoto wrappers scattered all over the school grounds would have given the Pope a run for his money. There will always be students having sex everywhere, despite the amount of abstinence programmes implemented by the Government and School Board. I remembered back in my senior year of secondary school, my friends and I would replay the events that happened in the back of our cars in great detail, with our girlfriends and all the mischief that took place. We were, after all. growing young boys and we had needs to be satisfied. People just want to have free sex. They want that more than almost anything else. If my memory serves me correctly, March’s issue of FHM Australia states that on average 70% of the population above the age of 16 have sex at least 3 times a week. Condoms, birth pills, contraceptives in general really aren’t fool-proof, besides from a male’s point of view, putting a condom on just doesn’t feel like the real deal, there’s less pleasure. So if they want to have sex for pleasure, abortions are going to be needed.
Being Pro-Choice and a believer in ‘self before someone else’ abortion is pretty much a necessity for modern life, for several reasons. Without abortion, women’s liberation is impossible. These days’ women must delay marriage and childbearing to focus on their careers. Sarah’s dream of walking down the catwalk in high heels, modelling skimpy clothes designed by high end famous fashion designers had to wait. However it would be unreasonable to expect them (or men, for that matter) to abstain from sex entirely through their mid to late twenties. True, we have contraceptive but they aren’t fool-proof; abortion is the ‘safety-net’ so either you give women the right to abortions or you counsel them to return to their traditional roles as mothers and wives. But for a number of obvious reasons, the latter option has been ruled out entirely. Even Obama, is pro choice and believes that by taking a woman’s rights to abortion, you are taking away her basic rights to her body.
Furthermore, with today’s modern society, traditional patterns of courtship and mating have been disrupted by things like industrialization and social modernization. In the past, (ideally) both partners would be virgins at marriage and they would engage in sexual intercourse only within the bounds of marriage. Whether or not this was always the case is something else entirely but that, at least, was the idea held up by society. But now this sort of thing is no longer viable for a large number of people. Both men and women have to delay marriage and childbearing but they can’t realistically be expected to abstain from sex for 25 plus years. Even if they wanted to get married young, it wouldn’t matter because things like school, work, and what not, force them to relocate constantly, typically breaking them up. So, again abortion is needed because people are forced to engage in ‘risky sex’ also known as sex out of wedlock.
Honestly, are 14 year olds even medically capable of carrying a child? Try and picture
the image of a little orphaned Vietnamese girl begging on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City with an oddly protruding tummy. Unwanted teenage pregnancy can have serious complications if the pregnancy is continued. An adolescent is not prepared at all and neither mentally or physically capable to continue a pregnancy. Never mind the health complications; they simply are not psychologically able or ready to handle the responsibilities of a child, forcing her to bear the added responsibility of the child she conceived through the unfortunate act would only add to her mental stress. To support a life takes away her entire future. Many of these girls drop out of school and end up working; spelling a bleak future for them and I certainly do not want that happening to someone I know.
Basically what I’m getting at here is that unless you can think of a way to turn back the historical processes of the last, say, 200 years or so, you are kind of forced to accept abortion, regardless of what your moral sentiments happen to be.
The biggest obstacle, we, supporters of abortion rights – pro-choice, face now is from the Church and all the other religious zealots who tirelessly ramble on and on about the aftermath of committing a hideous sin. The influential impact of Christianity in the continent of Africa has done little, but more destruction towards the struggling, overpopulated and civil war-torn countries. Plagued with Aids and HIV infected victims, the condemn of contraceptives and abortion by the Catholic Church, funded with millions of federal dollars by the then President of the United States George W. Bush, has led to almost 0 protection from sexually transmitted diseases and thousands of unwanted pregnancies. Abortion is illegal and highly frowned upon and even punishable by death in some states. Malnutrition mothers struggle to feed their premature baby with breast milk plagued and infected with pus and blood. Most of these impoverished babies end up dead before even reaching 12 months.
I come from a country where abortion is banned and any such equivalent procedure is deemed illegal, largely due to the fact that it is catholic based and influenced. The laws have its roots and ties to the bible. Facing the problem of corruption, poverty and overcrowding, little has been done to quell or ease the suffering of the people. Although I have never lived in Philippines for a time period of more than two months. I am not oblivious to the fact that there are individuals who practice the art of abortion in the dark back alleys of streets. With no proper instruments, medications or anaesthesia, these poor women have to endure forty minutes of blood gushing pain with a vacuum cleaner hose stuck in between their legs, while dark crimson blood drips down their feet. So why ban abortion when we all know it’s going to happen anyway? I would rather it be readily available than to know there’s some witch doctor, somewhere out there, kicking a woman in the tummy.
As and adamant supporter of abortion rights, I feel everyone has the right to their beliefs as long as it isn’t curtailing the rights of others and you can be pro-choice without being pro-abortion. Just be really careful! The status of an early-term foetus is entirely subjective and really depends on your personal history and outlook. You can see it romantically as a ‘potential life’ or ‘existing life’ or simply as a tiny blob of cells that could, but are in no way guaranteed to even without abortion, eventually replicate, grow and form themselves into a baby. Of course people are going to have different opinions on this.
And then, even if someone agreed with your (and I use the word in a general sense) definition of a foetus, there’s still no guarantee they’ll reach the same conclusion on the value of it. You have people who absolutely view a foetus as a baby, but still see cases where it’s ethically permissible to abort (or merely make an exception for themselves). You have people who see a foetus as a ‘potential life’, but determine that its still as valueless as an acorn compared to a tree, and people who see abortion as an atrocity like you. Then you have peopled who feel that a foetus is nothing in particular, but either do or don’t find an abortion an ethical practice for whatever reason.
As a person who exists between and encompasses both the ‘potential life’ and ‘blob of cells’ definition. I disagree with anyone that the potential of life is anywhere near as valuable as life itself, or that the potential for life should override the rights of the existing form of life (the mother) in regard to controlling what exists inside of her own body.
Pregnancy is not entirely about continuing a life inside the womb. With life comes great responsibility, to provide it with all the rights, love and comfort that it is entitled to. Sarah however is simply not ready or has the emotional maturity to raise a child and nurture it with tender love and care.
Act responsibly before creating a life, having to stand on the crossroads, deciding whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy is no easy task and certainly not as pleasurable as the act committed, that could have landed you in a predicament like this.
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