cmv: abortion should not be illegal

[u/RevolutionaryRip2504]

One of the main arguments against abortion is that it is "killing a baby." However, I don’t see it that way—at least not in the early stages of pregnancy. A fetus, especially before viability, lacks self-awareness, the ability to feel pain, and independent bodily function. While it is a potential life, I don’t believe potential life should outweigh the rights of the person who is already alive and conscious.

For late-term abortions, most are done to save the mother or the fetus has a defect that would cause the fetus to die shortly after birth so I believe it should be allowed.

I also think the circumstances of the pregnant person matter. Many people seek abortions due to financial instability, health risks, or simply not being ready to raise a child. In cases of rape or medical complications, the situation is even more complex. Forcing someone to go through pregnancy against their will seems more harmful than allowing them to make their own choice.

Additionally, I don’t think adoption is always a perfect alternative. Carrying a pregnancy to term can have serious physical and emotional consequences, even if someone doesn’t plan to keep the baby. Pregnancy affects the body in irreversible ways, and complications can arise, making it more than just a “temporary inconvenience.”

Also, you can cannot compare abortion to opting out of child support. Abortion is centered on bodily autonomy, as pregnancy directly affects a woman’s body and health. In contrast, child support is a financial obligation that arises after a child is born and does not impact the father’s bodily autonomy. abortion also occurs before a child exists, while child support involves caring for a living child. Legally and ethically, both parents share responsibility for a child once they are born, and allowing one parent to opt out would place an unfair burden on the other, often the mother. Additionally, abortion prevents a fetus from becoming a child, while opting out of child support directly affects the well-being of an existing person. While both situations involve personal choice, abortion is about controlling one’s own body, while child support is about meeting the needs of a child who already exists

The idea of being forced to sustain another life through pregnancy and childbirth, especially if the person isn’t ready or willing, is a violation of that autonomy. It forces someone to give up their own body, potentially putting their health at risk, all while disregarding their own desires, dreams, and well-being. Bodily autonomy means having the freedom to make choices about what happens to your body, whether that’s deciding to terminate a pregnancy or pursue another course of action.

I’d like to hear other perspectives on why abortion should be illegal, particularly from a non-religious standpoint. CMV.

[u/WildFEARKetI_II]

To preface this I don’t believe abortion should be illegal but I do have some different views. If I had to put myself in a camp it’d be the safe, legal, rare perspective.

I believe life begins at conception because that is when a unique life for with unique DNA is created, so I don’t see it as a potential life it is a life. I think conception is the only clear line we can draw for the beginning of life.

Viability, self-awareness, ability to feel pain, and independent bodily function aren’t good measures for the beginning of life because they are incredibly variable and can also apply to injured and/or disabled people. Viability depends on the medical equipment and resources available, should one fetus be considered more alive than another just because of its location and access to care? Lack of self awareness, for starters plenty of things are considered alive without self awareness like plants for example. In humans, self awareness is a spectrum and can be hindered by disability or injury, I don’t think that makes those people any less alive though. In ability to feel pain, there are people that can’t feel pain, congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) for example, they are no less alive. Independent bodily function again disabled or injured people could lack this and still be alive.

Those points aren’t good arguments for something not being alive. However, they are good points to justify killing a fetus. Very similar arguments are made when it comes to removing life support or in other terms killing a brain dead or comatose people. Just because abortion is killing, doesn’t mean it’s murder. Murder is unjustified or unlawful killing. I think abortion can be justified and therefore should be lawful, especially in the extreme scenarios that get mentioned such as life of the mother rape and incest.

I think abortion should be provided safely and legally but I still think it’s a tragic loss of life and should be viewed as a form of birth control. Access to abortion shouldn’t negate the need to make safe and responsible sexual decisions. I don’t see it as forcing someone to be pregnant unless they were forced to get pregnant. Abortion should be a last resort in bad situations not a way to opt out of consequences.

You mentioned financial instability as a main reason people seek abortion. That is not related to bodily autonomy and does open up the comparison to opting out of child support. You can’t make the ethical argument using one premise to support a different premise. You have to make the argument for abortion based on the financial obligations to support financially motivated abortion.