Abortion

1.     How do you feel about abortion, what are your views on it, and how should the legal system get involved?

Abortion is possibly one of the most controversial topics facing Western society today. Personally, I do not think abortion should be used as a form of contraception, however; I am a strong believer in Pro choice and it is no place for the government to intervene in personal decisions. If the Canadian government chooses to criminalize abortion, it will have many negative repercussions regarding the pregnant woman. Take away her reproductive choice and you step onto a slippery slope. Firstly, the ability of a woman to have control of her body is critical to civil rights. Therefore, if the government can force a woman to continue a pregnancy, why not force a woman to use contraception or undergo sterilization if it suits the government agenda? In addition, teenagers who become mothers have grim prospects for the future. They are much more likely to drop out of school, the child may receive inadequate prenatal care, the teen mother will likely rely on public assistance to raise a child, and they are more likely to develop health problems, or end up divorced. Statistics show that very few women who give birth choose to give up their babies for adoption - less than 3% of unmarried women, including teens. Furthermore, abortion is a safe medical procedure. The vast majority of women, 88%, who have an abortion, do so in their first trimester. Medical abortions have less than 0.5% risk of serious complications and are extremely unlikely to affect a woman's health or future ability to become pregnant or give birth. In the case of rape, forcing a woman made pregnant by a violent act would cause drastic psychological harm to the victim. In addition to this, forcing the woman into having her sadistic, narcissist, rapist’s child would not only cause more extensive physiological harm, but is just plain wrong. Lastly, by criminalizing abortion many women may become so distressed and desperate they will resort to self abortions. As a result this could lead to a serious injury, maiming, or bleeding to death of a woman. Your body should not be a battleground. Abortion is a personal descion and not a legal debate.