Read Time: 3 minutes

Introduction:

This is one of the most common arguments on the pro-choice side of the debate for many reasons, including the fact that many people for abortion do care about unborn children, the health of women and the social well-being of society as a whole. The problem is that this argument is extremely flawed. Now, let’s move on to the main argument.

The Main Argument:

If you make abortion illegal abortion illegal, they will happen anyway, and it would be unsafe.

How Abortion Hurts Women:

Yes, abortion hurts women. Pro-lifers don’t generally want to hurt women; this is one of the reasons we’re against abortion. If we didn’t care about others, we wouldn’t try to stop it.

The legalisation of abortion harms women in multiple ways, including coercion or social pressure to obtain an abortion, which sadly increases as social acceptance of abortion grows. It can also sometimes cause emotional distress and regret, which, instead of being treated, are often dismissed. Lastly, the more abortions in society, the more likely there are going to be complications.

Restrictions on Abortion:

Next, I move on to restrictions on abortions. Many of you reading would agree with any of the many restrictions. Whether that is gestational age, the reason for obtaining an abortion or even a doctor’s approval.

There, a problem kicks in. If you make abortion illegal in any scenario, it goes against your original argument because, by this logic, it will still allow unsafe abortions. So, how would this stop back-alley abortions, and wouldn’t the acceptance increase the number of illegal abortions if there are restrictions?

One last thing to think about: if unborn life is devalued, it may also devalue born life. This isn’t some fringe idea, because there is not much difference between an abortion and infanticide, except for the age of the child.

The Problem with Making Violence Safe:

Since we dealt with restrictions on abortion, let’s move on to this question: Is making violence safe good in any other scenario? Is making rape, abuse or even infanticide legal to protect the person committing the violence just because it protects them from harming themselves? You likely said no because society recognises that the law should protect the victims, not the perpetrators, though we can also help people who struggle before they commit a crime, in some circumstances.

The Reality:

Now that we have dealt with the arguments, let’s look at the facts. The numbers and death rates in the past were sometimes exaggerated for political reasons. While it is tragic when a mother and her baby die, back-alley abortions were dangerous but rare. The question we really need to ask is: why did these women want to have abortions in the first place, and how do we deal with this?

Conclusion:

Ultimately, the back-alley abortion argument fails because the law tries to prioritise the safety of the woman obtaining the abortion, instead of trying to answer why she wants an abortion in the first place. Is it a lack of support, trauma and fear, or is it simply not wanting to accept the consequences of her sexual action? Overall, we should try to protect all life when possible.