Why I’m Pro-Choice

#1: I’m pro-choice because I understand biological reality. If a fertilized egg is a person, then every woman with a functioning reproductive system is a murderer. About 2/3 of embryos fail to implant, and of those that do implant, 25% are miscarried by the end of the first trimester. An embryo is not guaranteed to become a person, and sometimes it becomes two or more people (identical twins/triplets). Also, in the case of a molar pregnancy, the embryo has not developed into a person, but into a potentially life-threatening tumor.

A fetus has no brain activity until the 24th week of pregnancy. Without consciousness, a body is not a person. (That’s why it’s legal to withdraw life support from those that are brain-dead.) Also, until the 24th week of pregnancy, the fetus is fully dependent on the mother and has no chance of survival outside her body. The fetus and the mother cannot be equal; no matter which side you’re on, the rights of one must outweigh the rights of the other. Either a woman has the right to terminate her pregnancy, or a fetus has the right to use a woman’s body without her consent. The difference between me and a “pro-lifer” is that I prioritize a thinking, feeling human being over a non-sentient blob of cells.

#2: I’m pro-choice because I support the equality of men and women. Banning abortion means that men have total control over their bodies, but women don’t. It's not fair to make women "follow through" on their decision to have sex when men cannot be held accountable to the same degree. Yes, we can require men to pay child support, but that will never be the same as forced pregnancy.
Pregnancy/childbirth is invasive, risky, and a leading cause of death worldwide. Complications can include—but are not limited to—blood clots, cancer, diabetes, hypothyroidism, high blood pressure, permanent loss of bowel/bladder control, facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy), depression, anxiety, and psychosis. Some of these conditions are rare, but others are common and can be difficult to treat.

There is no other situation in which we would force a person to sustain someone else’s life. For example, we don’t make people donate blood, even though blood donation is much less risky and invasive than pregnancy. Or let’s say you’re in the hospital, you need a kidney transplant, and the guy who just died downstairs is a match. Guess what? You can’t have his kidney if he’s not a registered organ donor, because we respect people’s right to bodily autonomy even after they’ve died. If you want to ban abortion, then you’re saying that a living, breathing woman deserves fewer rights than a corpse.

#3: I’m pro-choice because banning abortion isn’t the best way to stop it. Banning abortion is like putting a cutesy Band-Aid over a hemorrhaging gunshot wound: it makes us feel good about ourselves while doing nothing to fix the source of the problem. Abortion bans don’t prevent abortions; they prevent safe abortions. Is it really pro-life to create a situation where girls and women die from back-alley coathanger abortions and other unsafe techniques?

If we really want to prevent abortions, we should prevent the situations that lead to them in the first place. Women who get abortions are not heartless monsters; they are desperate and don’t know where else to turn. Give them somewhere else to turn. Give them accurate, comprehensive sex ed classes so they understand how their bodies work. Provide access to contraceptives so they can make informed decisions about family planning. Teach them that good relationships are founded on respect. Show them the red flags of abuse and actually listen to them when they report it. Create a social safety net for those in poverty so they won’t need to stay in abusive relationships for survival. Solve the underlying problems, and you’ll get rid of the demand for abortion.