What if?

The Catholic Church says that: Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life. I say that because I was raised in the Catholic faith. Having also gone to an all-girls Catholic school until high school, we were always taught that abortion is a sin. I saw girls going through pregnancy even at an early age because the only other option is the consequence of being shunned by their family and their community. Although it was a bit ironic since that was already happening at some level due to being pregnant without getting married.

I think in this situation the question of being ready to become a parent is what these young pregnant girls are going through. The decision on when and whether to become a parent is one of the most private a person can make and one that has a profound effect on all aspects of our lives. In that regard, these girls do not really have much choice on whether they are ready and capable of being a parent. It is sad that they have to bear the responsibility, especially a financial one at such a young age, but they should remain accountable for their actions.

I have been strictly against abortion my whole life, but I must admit that as I grow older I start to question some of the beliefs I have around the topic of abortion.  Lately, I have started to struggle on how black and white my opinions seem to have been on this.  On one hand, I respect life in all forms and intentionally killing a human life is something so horrible that I cannot fathom doing it. On the other hand, I do realize that there are gray areas. What if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest? What if the life of the mother is in danger?  These are situations where the woman has no control over, but certainly has a choice in whether to keep the unborn child or not.  (I think a more appropriate term is fetus, which to me is really funny since there is also an existing debate on whether a fetus is a human being or not.)

In all honesty, I do not think I would want to have a child that was conceived during a crime such as rape or incest. I certainly value my own life as well so I do not think I would want to continue a pregnancy with death looming over my head. They are not happy or loving situations, but I guess I never know what my own choice will be as a woman until I experience any of these in reality.

So yes, I think abortion should be illegal, except when the mother’s life is in danger or in instances of rape or incest. But outlawing abortion isn’t the only thing that needs to happen to prevent the destruction of human life. Women turn to abortion in large part because they feel they have no other viable option, and in a society that stigmatizes young, unwed mothers and offers them very little help, they’re not far from the mark.

Imagine getting pregnant; what would you do and what kinds of reactions would you expect if you wanted to carry your pregnancy to term?  Regardless of your position on abortion, I think we can all agree that we need more resources (counseling, aid, adoption services) for women faced with this situation.

Furthermore, denying women, especially adolescents, information on how to prevent pregnancy, and then stigmatizing them when they become pregnant is just plain ridiculous. This is 21st-century America – everyone should have access to comprehensive sex education. If you’re wondering why few pro-life people share this particular belief, well, I’m wondering too.

As I’ve said, I know that condoning abortion is extremely unpopular for Filipino Catholics like me and I don’t expect many readers to agree with me on this. But I hope that we disagree respectfully, that we can learn from each other and that we can recognize where we have common interests. Most importantly, I hope that where we do have common interests, we can work together to make a positive change for women facing the challenges of unwanted pregnancy.

-Grace is a blogger for The Sorbate. Check out her bio to see where her view comes from.