An end to abortions?
Our united efforts could make this
dream a reality
An end to abortions?
Our united efforts could make this
dream a reality
Almost all abortions are caused by unwanted
conceptions. Methods of preventing these conceptions are numerous,
and although few contraceptive methods are 100% effective, their
availability and use would reduce the number of abortions performed
to less than one tenth of today's figures.
No, it’s not impossible to end the need for abortions, but as long as our energies remain divided, and we waste limited resources working against each other, it’s highly unlikely. We could change this.
We don’t have to consider ourselves to be on one side or the other -- this is not a two-sided issue. All of us who have respect for life are on the same side. Together we will help end the mindless violence and unnecessary pain.
Freedom to reproduce is well established, but the option to choose
non-motherhood or non-fatherhood remains restricted. Coerced
conceptions and mandatory motherhood harm the mother, the unwanted
child, society, and the Earth. Although reproductive freedom is
considered to be primarily a women's issue, men who wish to take
responsibility for their fertility are often denied vasectomies.
Many births today are not wanted by the couple responsible. In most cases worldwide, the desire to limit family size is more than just a personal preference, it’s a matter of life and death.
Instead of limiting the definition of reproductive freedom to a woman’s right to legal access to contraception and safe abortions, our goal should be advanced to include freedom from needing abortions, and freedom from the harmful side-effects of female-based contraception.
As more men take responsibility for their sexual activities, by using condoms and getting vasectomies, progress will advance towards this goal. Financial and ageist restrictions on men’s choice to become sterile denies their right to reproductive freedom.
Freedom to use contraceptives is only the first step. Everyone at
risk of starting a human life should accept the responsibility that
comes with that risk, and take appropriate precautions.
As human population becomes more dense, the value of human life is
diminished. Therefore, lower birth rates are desirable. As human life
increases in value, death rates will also drop.
Encouraging positive alternatives to procreation will lower birth
rates. Adoption, foster and step parenting, and co-operative child
caring all respect existing children who need adult interaction.
Society has created artificial obstacles to forming non-biological
and non-traditional families. Encouraging and enabling people to live
together as families is a more respectful role for society to
play.
Foster parent and adoption qualifications are necessary to protect
children from potentially abusive situations, however, some current
qualifications are based more on society's prejudices than on the
best interests of the child.
People who are respectful of human life have been divided into two opposing groups: pro-choice and anti-abortion. By combining our energies to prevent unwanted conceptions, we will reduce the number of abortions performed.
Respect for life takes a moderate position in the controversy over
abortion. There are extremes at either end of the spectrum.
Some would abort because it wasn’t the gender they wanted, and some don’t think an abortion is ever right, even when the fetus is defective and threatens the life of its carrier. Paradoxically, some extremists want to criminalize abortion, and at the same time oppose efforts to prevent the need for abortions.
People who respect human life will respect others’ choices, while encouraging and enabling choices which demonstrate a respect for life. There are situations where terminating a pregnancy expresses more respect for life than would continuing it to birth.
Given the choice, virtually every woman having an abortion would
choose to not need one. And, nearly every man who causes an unwanted
pregnancy would choose to have prevented it in the first place. When
the means for preventing conceptions are not conveniently available,
or access to them is outlawed, the freedom to choose to not need an
abortion is denied.
In a perfect world, no one would ever need an abortion. When
everyone has access to contraception, accidental conceptions will be
minimal, and abortions will be too.
An outrageous number of children are dying of malnutrition, or are considered “throwaways” by industrial societies. This inhuman suffering of the innocents could be greatly reduced, if not eliminated, by enabling everyone to avoid unwanted conceptions. Caring for existing children is pro-child -- sentencing more of them to life in a world that isn’t willing to care for them is not.
Respect for Life is an advocate for human life. All life deserves respect, and should not be created if it won’t be respected.
We are all members of the same family -- the human family. Respect for Life honors everyone’s choices in defining their families, regardless of their personal orientations.
All of us have a right to live until we die. Millions of people
have been born and are not yet living -- they are dying. Until all
who are alive today are truly living, we have no right to create more
lives.
Just as we respect others only after we respect ourselves, we as a
species will give more respect to life other than our own as we gain
more respect for human life.