Woman's Choice to "House" her Unborn.

A woman's body is her own. Yes, there are times that her body has and can be used as a means to an end, but it should be her ultimate choice to decide whether or not that "means to an end" be the use of her body to produce a child. In China, for example, with the population rates soaring, the One Child Policy enforced laws that prevented women from having more than one child per family. Women that were expectant with their second child were forced into abortions or in some instances made to pay large fines. The One Child Policy also has created a preference towards boys because boys could take care and provide for their parents in old age, more so than the girls. This is the normal attitude especially throughout the rural areas, where boys are needed to work in the fields. Thousands of first born girls were killed by their parents so that they could get another chance to have a boy. Thousands of women were forced into assisted abortions. Thousands of other children were taken from their families and put into orphanages, where they suffered under terrible conditions. Another example, is female genital mutilation (also known as FGM). FGM is practiced, still today, in 28 countries worldwide. This practice is the removal of a woman's clitoris to prevent her from being promiscuous, and also is a symbol in many African countries of a girls progression from childhood into womanhood. This ritual is performed on girls of all ages, by the local witch doctor, and can have some devastating affects on these young women. Women who have had this procedure experience pain, bleeding, and scarring of the genital region. In later years women experience discomfort during intercourse, difficulties during labour, and in some situations death. This is all made possible because the government and/or society has put control on a woman's rights and/or choice to reproduce, and also have enforced laws that are against a woman's basic human rights, which are the rights to her own body. I am grateful to live in a country where these basic human rights are protected by the Constitution. And after the Roe v. Wade case the courts deemed that the Constitutions Rights to Privacy Act encompassed a woman's rights to abortion. I don't necessarily agree with the ethics of abortion, but I do agree in the protection of women's rights to their own bodies(including their reproductive organs). How then can the government and/or society force a woman to have a child? If an expecting mother didn't want her unborn child she could inflict pain and/or harm to her womb, resulting in a miscarriage, she could starve herself, flee to the black market and have the surgery done illegally by a butcher, commit suicide, etc. No person, or persons, not even the law, can stop her from performing any one of these acts mentioned above. Most women can hide their pregnancies up until about the 3rd trimester by wearing loose clothing, staying at home, not telling anyone, when asked women can lie about their condition, etc. How then can the government and/or society enforce women to have children, when the fetus is unknown? The only way the government and/or society can force a woman to carry a fetus to full term is through drastic measures that would be unconstitutional and against women's basic human rights. Therefore it is a woman's choice to "house" her unborn. And no person, persons, or even the law can prevent her from going to any extreme to terminate her unborn. What then is our duty in protecting the mother? Abortions are made necessary because it allows women to be in a safe, clean, professional environment without putting the women's health or life in jeopardy. Without abortions being performed some women would lose their lives trying to self-abort, and many others would wind up being hospitalized, where doctors would have to perform the abortions anyway because of the damage the women self-inflicted. It is true that we have placed value on life. But it is also true that not all life is valued the same. Human life is valued above all other life forms. All other animals (sentient beings) are valued above other life. Plant life is not given much moral consideration, only when it directly relates in aiding our own species. What value then have we placed on unborn human life? Should unborn life be taken into moral consideration? And why? Let's not argue that life begins at the moment of conception, for it is obviously clear. Or even argue the point of "person hood". Let's say, life and person hood begin at the moment of conception. We have already established that not all life is equal, and that some life is valued more than other life. Some life can be sacrificed, like the cow that sacrifices its life to be served at the dinner table. Or the life that can be sacrificed when you have to make a choice. Like, an expecting mother who will risk her health or life if she goes through with the labour process. Who then decides who lives or dies? Why is the mother saved and the child not? Saving the mother's life (who would have naturally died in the process) and intentionally killing an unborn child seems absurd if you want to argue the value of life. Both should have the right to life; both should should be taken into consideration; both deserve happiness. Why then is a choice made between the two? In instances of rape and/or molestation women were never given a choice of whether or not they wanted to use their bodies to "house" an unborn child. But it is ultimately their choice to host a child for 9 months, or even raise and nurture the child after birth. Some Pro Lifers agree that in instances of rape and/or molestation abortion is sometimes necessary. I am confused with Pro Lifers that have this view. How can the unborn life in a rape and/or molestation case be valued less than the life of another unborn? Both unborn life should have equal rights to life, unless of course we have come to determine that some life is valued more than other life. Consider this scenario if abortions were illegal: A young, sexually active girl becomes pregnant with child. After her first missed period she confronts her mother with her situation. She tells her mother that, she is scared and she doesn't know where the father is; she is afraid of how this will affect her schooling; or her future down the road. She is terrified of the labour process, and she is just not ready to take on the role of a mother so soon. Her mother responds that she could give the child up for adoption; or the family will help raise the child. She has options, and that everything will be okay. A few months pass and the young girl's belly begins to show. Panic sets in, and the young girl decides to take matters into her own hands. In her bathroom she decides to self-abort. Soon the mother arrives home to find her daughter laying on the bathroom floor, unconscious in a pool of her own blood. Medics arrive on the scene and try to revive the young girl, but it is too late. She dies and so does the child she is carrying. This graphic story is the reason why I believe abortions are necessary. If one life could have been saved, that counts for something. It is our moral responsibility to protect human life. And in these situations the mothers life should be valued more than the life of her fetus. Also because these situations can not be prevented ,it is our duty then to provide clean, safe, and professional environments where abortions can be performed. I would personally not have an abortion, but that is the choice I have made. Every women is different and each have their own unique and individual reasons for proceeding through with an abortion (like rape victims). Women who have abortions suffer from sadness, depression, guilt, anger, and some may not even be able to conceive in the future because of the procedure. In my opinion, these are the consequences for their actions. What other consequences would Pro Lifers like to see the mother suffer?