The Right to Life
In her article, The Rise of DIY Abortions, Ada Calhoun, of The New Republic, discusses personal abortion stories, different methods of abortion, and the increase in ‘at home abortions’. Calhoun begins by talking about Jennie Linn McCormack’s story of her at home abortion. McCormack had three kids, and she became pregnant yet again. McCormack did not have the money or resources to acquire a medical abortion, so she ordered abortion pills online and she terminated the pregnancy at home. However, she had thought she was only fourteen weeks pregnant; once she delivered the dead fetus, she realized she had underestimated how far along she was. She turned out to be between nineteen and twenty-three weeks pregnant. McCormack was charged by Bannock County Prosecutors’ under an Idaho law that makes it illegal for a women to have an abortion in a way not sanctioned by the state.
The article goes on to talk about how before Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, women had found several different techniques to end their unwanted pregnancies. They used things such as: coat hangers, and laundry detergent. Once abortion was legalized the focus shifted; however, there were still many activists who believed that “do-it-yourself” abortions were necessary for poor women. As of now, women are using drugs like, Cytotec and Mifeprex, which have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. These drugs are readily available online for only forty-five to seventy-five dollars, compared with a three hundred to eight hundred dollar legal medicated abortion. In the past years, more and more women have been performing at home abortions; meanwhile, the law has been moving to restrict access, online and off, to abortion pills.
According to LifeNews.com, “Since that time, [Roe v. Wade] there have been approximately 57,762,169 abortions that have destroyed the lives of unborn children.”. That is an exorbitant amount of lives that have been taken, and viewed as nothing more than a clump of cells. The Bible says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (New International Version Fire Bible, Ps. 139.13). Meaning that God, from the moment someone was conceived in their mother’s womb, has been working in them. He created everyone unique, special, and with certain rights endowed to everyone. This verse does not say, ‘You knit me together once I was born’. What this verse implies is that from the moment someone was conceived, not the moment one was born, one has a right to live. If everyone has a right to live from conception, why would it be allowed to unfairly slaughter thousands of innocent unborn babies? That is what pro-choice activists are supporting. They believe women should have the right to terminate their pregnancies whenever and wherever they want. As a result, over fifty million lives have been taken through clinical, medicated abortion. This number does not even include abortions that women perform on themselves, “DIY” abortions.
In recent years, however, “do-it-yourself” abortions have been making a big appearance. What that means is women across America have been using different methods to end their own pregnancies at home. While legal abortions are a major issue by themselves, “DIY” abortions are becoming a bigger issue. At home abortions are a problem because they are unsafe, dangerous, and a form of unregulated murder.
Self-induced abortion is unsafe because women cannot accurately determine how far along they are in their pregnancy. Not knowing how far along one is could cause unhealthy and dangerous complications the mother. Similar to Jennie Lynn McCormack’s story in The Rise of DIY Abortions, consider this: a woman, say her name is Susan, realizes she is pregnant, but does not want to keep the baby. Susan wants to have an abortion but cannot afford to pay for it. She does not know what to do so she looks up on the internet how to terminate a pregnancy at home. Online, Susan comes across an advertisement for “abortion pills”; she purchases the pills, thinking she is only fifteen weeks along. Taking the pills, she does end up terminating her pregnancy, but it does not go as she planned. She has to deliver a dead fetus, and she is shocked to see how big it is. She becomes frightened and calls the ambulance. They inspect the fetus and determine that Susan was actually about twenty-three weeks, around five months, pregnant, (Calhoun). The point of this story it to emphasize that women cannot be encouraged to perform their own abortions. Women cannot accurately determine the length of pregnancies; therefore, increasing the chances of the mother being injured. At home abortions are high-risk for both mother and child. Without proper knowledge of what is going on in one’s pregnancy there could be unnecessary pain caused to the mother and her unborn child. “The new measures instead seek to prevent an abortion after the point at which a fetus is able to feel pain- according to the bills’ authors, at about 20 weeks.” (Calhoun). Unborn fetuses are able to feel pain much sooner than many people believe. If women are allowed to decide when they terminate their pregnancies without any sort of regulation, then not only is it allowing the murder of innocent children, it is also enabling the potential to inflict unnecessary pain on a completely vulnerable victim.
At home abortions are dangerous because these women are not medical professionals; and thus, they do not know what they are doing. There are many hazardous techniques women have used that did not terminate their pregnancies and only caused them further damage. “They [women] put dangerous drugs like the tissue-destroying potassium permanganate into their vaginas, which typically failed to terminate pregnancy but sometimes caused hemorrhage.” (Calhoun). In a desperate attempt to end their unborn child’s life, women are in turn causing themselves more pain and harm, without the expected and wanted result. Women are putting themselves through excruciating pain, not having the proper knowledge of what they are doing when they use chemicals, and harmful drugs to try and end their pregnancy.
Humanity cannot be given the right to decide if another human being lives or not, as every life has value and is worth protecting. The selling and distribution of “abortion pills” needs to be stopped altogether, because it allows women to terminate their pregnancies with no laws or regulations. “A number of pro-choice groups argue that access to the drugs [Mifeprex and Cytotec] should be vastly expanded, perhaps available by prescription from general practitioners.” (Calhoun). Pro-choice activists are fighting for women to have unlimited access to pregnancy ending drugs. They believe that there should be “abortion pills” readily available on all fronts. Whether it be online, over the counter, or prescribed from the doctor, they think it is every woman's right to have have access to these drugs and the option to end her child’s life. As Rebecca J. Rosen writes in her article, Consider the Coat Hanger, “Making something illegal doesn’t make it disappear.” Simply put, telling someone they cannot do something, will not stop them from doing it. While it is true that the discontinuation of the legalization of abortion pills will not end all at home abortions, it will help to control how many women take the plunge and how many innocent babies are killed. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to end abortion completely; however, there are measures that one can take to slow down the rise of self-induced abortions.
Society should be made more aware of the increase in at home abortions. Without proper knowledge, nothing will get better. The issues, complications, and dangers of at home abortions outweigh the pros, and women need to be made aware of that. If people are not educated of the dangers of “DIY” abortions, more women and babies will be harmed. At home abortions are a bigger issue than people realize, and it needs to be stopped.
-Meranda
Works Cited
Calhoun, Ada. "The Rise of DIY Abortions." Academic Search Premier. N.p., 31 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Feb. 2016.
Ertlet, Steven. "57,762,169 Abortions in America Since Roe vs. Wade in 1973." LifeNews.com. LifeNews, 21 Jan. 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
New International Version Fire Bible. Ed. Donald C. Stamps, Carey Huffman, J. Wesley Adams. Life Publishers International, 2007. Print. 28 Feb. 2016.
Rosen, Rebecca J. "Consider the Coat Hanger." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 23 Aug. 2012. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.
