Rape vs. Abortion

I’ve accepted I’ll probably ruffle some feathers. It’s only natural when discussing politics. I don’t discuss politics here on Don’t Laugh, People because I truly don’t even have beliefs when it comes to politics. My beliefs are for the betterment of humanity, not just myself and loved ones; not just fellow Americans; not just allies. I want humanity as a whole to fulfill their purpose of becoming a dominant species, not a species composed of dominant groups imprisoning and enslaving less fortunate peoples.

But my focus is on something at home, and not to do with anyone abroad. The topic of abortion in the United States.

Congressman Todd Akin’s controversial comments over the weekend sparked backlash and debate. I don’t agree with Todd Akin’s comments in any way, shape, or form.

I don’t support abortion, especially when consenting adults have sex. There are consequences to your actions, and pregnancy is possible with or without birth control, and we all know that. I also believe that if children have sex and get pregnant, they must deal with their decisions, as unfair as it is. But while I don’t support abortion, I do support educating everyone, especially women, to the options provided for them.

When [most] Republicans wish to do away with abortion—even for rape victims—it’s not to make them have children. However, there are no plans to fund educating people, especially women, to the options they do have.

The ideal solution would be for victims of sexual assault to report right away that they were raped. This would allow for her to take the ‘Morning After’ pill—which is not 100% effective—to prevent fertilization, get herself checked out to make sure she’s not severely injured, offer her the proper counseling to overcome the trauma, and hopefully capture a sexual predator and keep him off of the streets.

But this isn’t an ideal world, and the ideal solution is dependent upon educating women. However, even an educated woman can be susceptible to the trauma of the rape, and being victimized. No woman wants to feel weak, especially not after a sexual assault. This won’t change even with knowing she could go see someone, because there’s not always the will to speak about and relive the assault. Trust is at its lowest point after an assault, and the insecurity will keep most women from seeking the help that they actually know will provide comfort.

So that’s why I say leave abortion to a woman’s choice. I don’t agree with it, I don’t have to. But I don’t have to live the life of these women. A pregnancy takes 9 months away from a woman, and her family. If she’s underage, it can be hugely devastating. If she’s single and was raped and won’t tell anyone, her co-workers and family will form opinions. Forcing women to carry a child that she doesn’t want, or was forced into her, can lead to further trauma, insecurity, and deeper depression. A woman in that mental state may be more likely to try and abort the child herself, and we know from history already, that option could be far more costly.

I do believe in preserving a life, and I do believe that an unborn child should have the right to live. They didn’t ask to come out of a rapist’s testicles, or to be born unto an unwilling mother. But I don’t believe in limiting the rights of people, especially victims of serious physical, psychological, and emotional trauma. And I don’t believe in exposing anyone, especially women, to physical, psychological, and emotional trauma when she is judged for being pregnant and literally can’t tell people she was raped.

This is not an ideal world, and ideal solutions don’t exist because of that. If they did, we would live in Utopia and nobody would ever disagree when the ideal solution is proposed. If you can’t educate women and ensure that they would do the ideal thing of reporting right away that they were sexually assaulted, then you can’t propose a system where they lose their only known option for taking care of the situation.

It’s all dependent on showing there’s a solution, and removing abortion completely, isn’t a solution. It just creates more problems than we currently have. As I said, I don’t support abortion. But I don’t support the terrorism you impose by taking abortion away without solutions to the problems I’ve listed above.