The fact of the matter is that our society has come to accept (with some segments of society even demanding) this form of violence against women and the foundation of society. Abortion is actually symptomatic of other social ills such as hedonism, abuse and racism, and poverty. In fact, it is impossible to significantly reduce these things so long as abortion is socially acceptable.
Hedonism
After the sexual liberation that occurred in the 1920s, Christian denominations and American society itself broke from the traditional stance against artificial contraception en masse. American culture brushed off the Roman Catholic Church as the stick in the mud in 1930 with Pope Pius XI's encyclical Casti connubii (On Christian Marriage). The social acceptance of artificial contraception incepted the idea that sex is purely a physical act of pleasure devoid of any other meaning. This mentality snowballed into the social acceptance of other once immoral acts such as fornication and adultery as well as facilitated the widespread epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases.
If two heterosexual people can enjoy this purely physical act, then why not multiple heterosexual people or even non-heterosexual people? Furthermore, why involve other people at all when one can engage in solitary personal gratification? In 1984, singer Tina Turner would sum this whole idea up best with her hit song, "What's Love Got to Do With It?" As the slippery slope continued throughout the 1960s, Pope Paul VI made a last ditch attempt to correct the increasingly global mindset with the prophetic encyclical Humanae vitae (On Human Life) in 1968. By this point, American culture had been so wrapped up with sexual "liberation" that the words of the Holy Father regarding contraception seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
Abuse & Racism
As everybody knows, artificial contraception is not 100% effective. The legalisation of abortion corrected this defect. However, it also means that a more sinister notion became unleashed upon society: a woman's right to choose has become a man's right to use. It is perceived that a man now has absolutely no responsibility anymore regarding unplanned pregnancies, because a woman can get an abortion whenever she wants. This irresponsibility can be used to justify a range of perverse actions such as prostitution, rape, and incest. Women are once again dehumanised and can be perceived as merely an object for instant gratification. In trying to liberate women from male patriarchy, abortion has only subjugated women even further, reversing the accomplishments of feminists such as Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Sojourner Truth.
Early feminists not only championed women's rights, but also equal rights for Blacks. They understood that the two issues of women's rights and racism were (and still are) intimately linked. It comes as no surprise that Margaret Sanger, Founder of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (then called the American Birth Control League), was heavily influenced by the eugenics movement, which aimed to cleanse the United States from racial impurity and physical deformity. Early advocates of abortion aimed to eventually mandate forced sterilisation for certain kinds of women: non-White, poor, and disabled. Today, abortions are the leading cause of death among the Black population in the United States. The idea of forced sterilisation also influenced the One-Child Policy of the Chinese Communist Party, which has ironically also disproportionately affected females, because many parents even as recently as the 1980s would commit infanticide if their child was a girl.
Poverty
It is also no secret that a greater percentage of low-income women have abortions than women of greater income, who can afford proper maternal health care. For the past few decades, the widespread access to abortion has prevented the government from seriously examining our deficient health care system, which many conservatives falsely claim is the best in the world. In fact, the infant mortality rate in the United States according to the CIA is higher than that of Cuba and barely lower than countries like Croatia, Belarus, and Lithuania. The goal of society should be to provide better pre- and post-natal maternity care as well as quality health care coverage for children.
Poverty is also highest among female-headed households, which is caused by a combination of equal work receiving unequal pay and by men who again only see women as objects of pleasure (also partially facilitated by rampant consumption of pornography in the United States) and not as mothers of their children. The very disintegration of the nuclear family as the foundation of society unfairly places the burden of poverty on women and children. Barriers to break free of poverty such as unaffordable higher education and the welfare state ensure that these victims of poverty forever remain victims.
What does "better" look like?
The debate on the legality of abortion has not subsided in the past 40 years and does not show signs of abating any time soon. However, the legality of abortion is influenced heavily by social acceptance of abortion. Social acceptance of abortion is and will be dictated by the environment in which women are pregnant and raise children. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act paints a better picture already, with several pro-women and pro-children features such as:
- the inclusion of maternity coverage and the availability of riders for additional family members in student health care,
- family housing and child care,
- flexible or alternative academic scheduling to allow students to stay in school,
- education to improve parenting skills,
- maternity and baby clothing, baby food, baby furniture, and similar items,
- post-partum counseling and support groups,
- funding for programs that help pregnant or parenting teens stay in or complete high school and prepare for college or vocational education by providing resources and assistance,
- assistance to states in providing intervention services, accompaniment, and supportive social services for pregnant victims of domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking,
- additional resources for public awareness and outreach so that pregnant and parenting teens and women are aware of services available to them,
- eliminates pregnancy as a pre-existing condition, and
- enhances Adoption Tax Credits.
As Rep. Jackie Speier shared, a large number of abortions are not made nonchalantly. Many women who have had abortions can attest that going through with an abortion is the hardest and most devastating experiences they have had. More often than not, the environment in which these women live force this "choice" upon them. Therefore, it is not our place as imperfect mortals to condemn others. However, we must not remain silent and complacent when there is a grave injustice such as violence in society. We are morally obligated to eliminate the causes of violence and uphold the life and dignity of the human person. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., pro-life civil rights activist, put it simply in 1958 when he said, "Violence begets violence."
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