Recently the United States Congress passed legislation prohibiting partial-birth abortion. Many Americans have rejoiced at this action, citing it as a victory for voiceless, nameless infants whose constitutional rights are violated each year. Others already are planning to challenge the legislation, which “is a ban on the method used in over 90 percent of abortions after 12 weeks, well before fetal viability,” according to Talcott Camp, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. Moreover, the ACLU said the legislation fails to provide an exception from the ban for cases where a woman’s health requires it. Regardless of which side of the argument you subscribe to, an issue that too often goes overlooked in this discussion is the quality of life of the patient or fetus.
Usually when a woman is having a baby she does not say what sex child she prefers. Instead, she says she wants a healthy, strong child who is able to lead a normal life. Not many people, if given the choice, would choose to live as a vegetable, a quadriplegic or a person with a mental illness or other special needs.
Even with the recent advances and technology in modern medicine, premature children still run the risk of suffering devastating birth defects and possibly killing or severely injuring the mother. These complications may result in a lifetime of intensive and expensive medical care or eventual death for both the mother and child.
Few families would want to have to choose between the life of the mother or the child. But when faced with these equally undesirable options, termination of the pregnancy may be an alternative. I do not think decisions as personal and difficult as these are areas where anyone other than those directly affected should have the final word.
I do not condone senseless killing on any level, nor do I believe in the use of abortion as a form of birth control. But when we condemn those who make the decision not to carry a pregnancy to term or when we support bans on abortion, too often it is with the assumption that the mother is irresponsible and selfish and that the child will enjoy a life similar to ours. This pattern of thought does not take into account the complications, inconveniences and setbacks that both mother and child may suffer.
In America, not only do we claim to value life, but we also place a strong emphasis on how people live. We judge how well people are doing by the types of jobs they have, the clothes they wear, the neighborhoods they live in and the cars they drive.
We are quick to criticize those who depend on government assistance, yet we make the government the ultimate authority on such pivotal decisions. Then we continue to punish them by making healthcare obscenely expensive and the qualifications for assistance outrageous. Life in this country is not simply about being alive, breathing the air and taking up space. Living is being productive and contributing to the community around you.
Modern medicine has the ability to do things I cannot imagine. But many mysteries remain unsolved. I have the utmost respect for the sanctity of life (except for bugs), but perhaps we should reserve such avid and absolute support for a ban that prohibits abortion until all parties concerned can be assured not only life, but an opportunity to have a quality life experience.