Did I get your attention ? Abortion is much debated and contested here in the United States. This is due partly to the fact that in this country people are allowed freely to express their own opinion even if they don't really have one in the first place! Take for instance this very issue of abortion, prior to the ruling on Roe vs. Wade it is said that an estimated countless number of women were injured, maimed and even killed getting illegal abortions. As a consequence pro choice advocates would caution American law makers to think twice before passing a law that would prejudice the health of women again.
So I will do just that. I will first carefully consider the word estimated. Since abortion was illegal it is difficult to keep track of how many women actually did get illegal abortions let alone suffer from them. But what is also even harder to figure is the amount of women that did not get an abortion for fear of breaking the law. It is even more difficult to tell how many would be broken lives were spared from being born thanks to those fearful women who chose to shun a night of pleasure so as to spare themselves a lifetime of unwanted drudgery raising a child they well knew they could not raise.
So what misery exactly are women being spared by keeping abortion legal? Is it the fear of back ally abortions? Well then, I will also carefully consider those back ally abortionist of yore. I will consider the first and primary distinction between them and the physicians of today and that is modern technology. If abortion were made illegal this very day I am positive that the knowledge and know how of how to perform an abortion without any harm to the woman would not suddenly disappear. I am also certain that greed would trump ethics and that a whole black market industry would arise to fill the need of these women, complete with all the modern accommodations.
I know what you are thinking though fellow Liberal, "Should America then trust the lives of these countless of women to a black market industry?" The question is best answered by analyzing other black market industries in our society today. Like for instance illegal drugs and prostitution. A careful analysis would quickly result in the discovery of an economic echelon in the quality of service and products rendered, basically the more sophisticated the operation and the more you pay the better the service and products purchased.
Of course there are no recourses to turn to but much like the legal vices there are no guarantees that those recourses will render positive results. The moral of the story then is this: abortion is definitely not safe for the fetus and it is only safe for the woman that is being vivisected by a qualified physician, something that currently is not and most likely won't ever be guaranteed due to the fear of any potential lawsuit.
So why are so many good intentioned Liberals all up in arms about the freedom to choose? That is simple! It is for the same reason that a regular customer of any fast food restaurant still looks up at the menu after the umpteenth consecutive visit. It is the illusion of choice. That fast-food patron will likely purchase the same meal he always does but he looks up at the menu because it is there. Threaten to take away that menu and he will much likely raise a fuss too, saying such things as, "How am I supposed to know what to order?" or "What about my freedom to choose?" It is not that he would suffer any by the absence of the menu. It is that consumers are creatures of habit and tend to make their choices in fractal type patterns repeating themselves in much the same way that a pregnant woman would should she choose to seek an abortion or not.
To reiterate the choice is an illusion. Women who are set on killing their progeny will do so regardless of the governments intervention, much like women who nurture their offspring will go to all lengths to protect their charges. The fuss comes from the fact that a question has been posted to be answered. Prior to the question the majority of people in America probably did not have an opinion and would have instinctively done one or the other but place the menu board up and…Ahem…I meant place the question up to choose or not to choose and presto we have a national debate! It's gotten so bad that it is as if there were a market for products made from aborted fetus parts. Wait! There is! Look it up and I bet you could find "101 Uses For An Aborted Fetus" !