ABORTION: Murder or Healthcare?

By YouveBeenGreeked | Some Random Thoughts. | 10 Mar 2025

Alright, let's get this modern shit-storm topic over with...

In the modern, socio-political environment, the debate over abortion can pretty much be divided into two parts:

The right-wing, conservative, Republican-leaning side (for the most part) will argue that abortion should not be allowed. More responsibility should lie on the individual to not get pregnant, and that even through rape a baby should not be killed - every life is sacred and worth protecting.

The left-wing, liberal, Democrat-leaning side (for the most part) will argue that abortion should be allowed. It is the right of a woman in a difficult, life-altering situation whether she wants to put herself at risk going through birthing, or even if she wants a baby at all - it's just a clump of cells during pregnancy, and ultimately: their body, their choice.

There are plenty of people in-between with feet in both camps - one side more than the other, perhaps - but ultimately, these are the two sides summed up briefly in a sentence or two each.

So, what are my thoughts, for what they're worth?

Well I think for anyone who's curious about where to stand on this debate, you first - like with many things - need the facts first: who is getting abortions, why are abortions happening, and how much is it costing governments every year?

And ultimately, maybe more importantly to me, what does all of this say about our society?

So firstly, WHO?

Well, stats for this can really be seen from 1973, with the passing of the Roe v. Wade bill, which allowed abortions prior to the point of foetal viability, the point at which a growing baby is able to survive outside the womb. Abortions went from under 800,000 to around 1.6 million by 1990 in the United States, doubling in total.

After that, a gradual decrease in abortions can be seen, going down to just above 800,000, until 2016/17, when abortion rates began to rise again up to 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned. In the U.S. in 2023, roughly 1,037,000 abortions were provided for 15-44 year olds, an 11% increase since 2020.

Currently, it stands that 61% unintended pregnancies, and 29% of all pregnancies, end in an abortion. Worldwide, 73 million abortions are performed annually, with most unsafe abortions taking place in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

So, in the Western World at least, WHY? What are the main reasons for women getting abortions:

According to the Census Bureau, the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organisation, here are the reasons, from various studies:

74% of women believed the child would interfere with work; 73% believed they could not afford the baby
48% believed their current relationship problems would interfere with their child's upbringing
36% put it down to timing, feeling they weren't emotionally or financially ready for children
31% put it down to having poor relationships with their partner, or that the partner wasn't supportive
29% had too many children already and didn't want to over-extend their family
20% believed having a child would interfere with their other life goals
19% expressed how unprepared they felt mentally
12% expressed concerns for their health, personally concerned that their own or the baby's health would be at risk or often citing alcohol and drugs
8% wished to be married before children
7% said they didn't feel mature enough
5% believed a child would strain their relationship with their current family and friends
4% claimed a lack of employment played a role in their decision
>1% said their partner's desire for them to abort had an impact on their decision
0.6% aborted due to a lack of insurance or government assistance

So far, aside from hypothetical concerns, no mention has been given to actual health concerns, or scenarios like rape or incest.

To me, when I read statistics like these, what I see is poor choice making. One by one:

If you think having a child would interfere with your work life too much, either stop working so much so you don't have to spend money on public schooling and/or nannies so you can be at home with your child more often. Or, just don't have sex.
If you're struggling financially, wait until you're more financially stable before having sex and risking pregnancy.
If relationship problems are occurring, deal with them first before sleeping together and risking pregnancy.
If you're not emotionally ready for children, don't sleep with someone until you are, more-so because sex emotionally and biologically bonds you with someone, which could potentially worsen the lack of emotional stability someone may be experiencing that made them believe they weren't ready for children.
If you're in a bad relationship, don't sleep with that person, and be honest about why you're coping in a poor relationship via sex.
If you have too many children already, don't engage in an activity that could result in more of them.
If you're concerned about your health or the viability of the baby's health could be at risk, consult a doctor for an exam before sleeping with someone - it could be that your body is unable to safely birth children or could put yourself at more personal risk than normal.
If you want to be married before children, abstain.
If you don't feel mature enough yet, using sex as a past-time escape may make sense to you, but sex's purpose is for people more mature than these people may be.
If you're concerned that your own family will negatively affect your relationships with the family you didn't choose to have since birth and your friends, you may need to reconsider who you call "friends and family", for a REAL one would not try to sway a friend or family member out of child rearing.
If you're unemployed or worried about a lack of government aid, your priorities should be elsewhere other than sex.

What I'm getting at, which comes across ALL points there, is CHOICE - most abortions seem like they could be prevented - or rather, not happen at all - if people made better choices; the value of abstinence before marriage was promoted in Judeo-Christian societies, among others, for this reason.

To me, the value of sex seems to have diminished for too many people, though I don't know since when. The over-availability of pornography, the casual reasoning and nature of divorces, OnlyFans, rates of depression... many factors seem to me to contribute to the reason why so many rely on the physical and mental comfort of sex that they end up with unwanted pregnancies.

The fact is that sleeping with someone can result very often in pregnancy - and we haven't even mentioned the risk of STD's. Sex and the emotional value it provides between people is so often overlooked for the physical, in-the-moment pleasure that it also provides. Yes, it's fun, but that is not its purpose, and the more people take sex for granted, the more abortions will occur.

THAT SAID, there are still a minority of people whose health will genuinely be at risk. As for the other hard cases of underage pregnancy, rape or incest, my personal view is one of, I think, balance; they're still taking the life of a baby, but in scenarios understandably mortifying. But these hard cases combined do make up less than 1% of reasons why an abortion is eventually performed.

So in summary, I think abortions should be available, but reserved for those who genuinely need one. Everyone else should prioritise making sure they are in a good enough position in their personal and vocational life, and in their mental state, before doing what ultimately brings children into this world.

While some people need them for medical reasons, making drugs illegal doesn't get rid of drug abuse.

While some people need them for personal self-defence, making guns illegal doesn't get rid of gun violence.

And while some people need them in extreme circumstances, making abortions illegal doesn't get rid of unwanted or risky pregnancies.

EDIT: There's one final point I forgot to raise, and that's the idea of,

"My body, my choice".

Now from a quick glance: no, it is not my body. You are the one growing this child inside your body, so yes it makes sense that you have a bit more of a say than some random bloke.

But like the numbers above show: what WAS their choice? Well most people are aborting because of things like finances, a lack of faith in their partner, mental or physical health... these are all risks they're aware of, yet they still choose to take the risk of pregnancy. For clarity, I'm not condemning that choice in and of itself, more the lack of consideration for every other consideration or lack-there-of beforehand.

Obviously, it's pretty much in our nature to have sex - it's our sexual desire, we SHOULD be doing it! We've been doing it for millions of years - billions. But it's also probably in my nature to beat my annoying boss over the head and fight him for his money - we've certainly been doing things like that for a damn long while since paleolithic times. What stops us doing that is self-restraint, decency, a better mental state than the ones our ancestors probably had, thinking of others and, yeah, the law. My point is that something being in our nature alone doesn't mean that we should, just that we can.

So why isn't this same level of thinking applied for unprepared sex and unwanted pregnancies as much? Can we also not be self-restrained? Keep ourselves in a better mental state first at least? Understand how much this is costing our fellow tax payers in abortion operations and the welfare state?

If someone doesn't want to get pregnant, should not that decision be made in the bedroom, and not the clinic?

And please, understand, I've been there - I've been in a serious relationship I wasn't sure about, yet did the deed regardless, and when we broke up, as much as I wanted to ignore it, I couldn't help but worry, "what if?" That could have changed my life forever, and I certainly wouldn't be in the much better relationship I'm in now - We are very committed, have not argued once in the months we've been together, share tonnes of core values, laugh together like idiots, and there is a future together for us. And if it happened, I'd be one-hundred percent ready, and I could not be happier knowing that. And really, all I wish for everyone is for them to have that certainty in themselves and their partner first.

That's really all my viewpoint boils down to: I'd never hope that abortions are made illegal, because a minority of people do genuinely need them. But I hope far more that people are genuinely content, satisfied and happy with themselves, their family and their choice of partner before the deed is done.

And yes, even if one is conceived via rape... well that's where I'm on the fence. I still personally think the baby shouldn't be killed, but I would never interfere with a vulnerable woman who felt regret having a baby that's half from a rapist. That's a position I could never fathom.

Oh, and "it's just a clump of cells"? Yeah, well so am I, and so are you...

Also I identify as a woman now, so my voice matters too.

Checkmate, bigots.

Alright, I got that out the way. Have at it in the comments.

And make sure to drink water and sniff glue.

Ciao ciao, plebs.