hizgeorgiapeach
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(Quick reply, here... so no, this isn't aimed at anyone in particular)
I have what may be a rather singular perspective on this rather charged issue. It may not be as unique as I'd like to think - but we all have our moments of egocentrism.
I've had to face (more than once) the prospect of aborting - and have had (what I felt was) no choice about having the procedure at one point. It's not an easy decision to face under the "best" of circumstances. And even when it's Necessary, you spend the rest of your life questioning yourself about whether you're Sure you did the right thing, regardless of which decision you make.
Prior to the birth of my eldest (who is about to turn 19) I miscarried 3 times, all early, first trimester miscarriages, two of which I wasn't even sure I was pregnant until the miscarrage happened. I thought nothing of it when they occured, other than relief that I wasn't stuck carrying a child that I wasn't ready to deal with, and further relief that I didn't have to make the decision whether to terminate.
Then I became pregnant with my older daughter and didn't miscarry (though I pretty much hoped I would) so I let my ex-husband know what was going on. I included him in the decision of whether to continue the pregnancy or abort, even though my instincts were screaming at me that the right thing to do was to end the pregnancy. He was thrilled and wanted the child, so I went against my instincts. My older daughter, when born, was plagued with multiple handicaps due to genetic flaws that we were previously unaware of. For a long time, we didn't expect her to survive - or if she did, we expected her to be in a complete vegitative state for whatever lifespan she managed. We got lucky, such was not the case. Although she will never be "normal" or even Functional in society, she survived and managed to be at least trainable to go into a supervised living facility. It has cost more in terms of emotional upheaval - and finances - than anyone should ever have to face to get her to that point.
Every time I became pregnant after her, I was faced with the knowledge that the same conditions - or Worse - faced any child that I bore. The defects were genetically based; there was no escaping them. Fortunately, those same defects caused miscarriages time and again, taking the decision out of my hands. At least, miscarriages prevented me from facing the decision until a set of twins. One miscarried, the other didn't, and it was evident from various tests that the second twin wouldn't likely survive to be born, much less survive without machines if it Did last long enough for birth. I made the choice, and decided right then that if I were faced with any further pregnancies that didn't miscarry, that I WOULD have them terminated if in-utero testing showed the same genetic flaw. (There was, after all, a slim chance that it wouldn't show up in Every child - the chance simply got smaller every time I miscarried or had a teminated pregnancy that held that defect.)
Had aborting not been a Legal option for me - I would have been faced with months of emotional agony and physical illness. I would have to have dealt with the fact that what remained in the womb wasn't and never would be a "child" - it was simply a parasitic growth, little different from a tumor, waiting to be excised. I would have been in a position of being forced to deal with the severe handicaps of one child whom I was already responcible for while at least partially incapacitated by things continuing. And if, by some off chance, the fetus had managed to actually survive and been born - I would have been faced with a second handicapped child, in even worse condition than the one I already had, to cope with those problems on top of everything else. I would have been lucky, really, not to wind up permanently esconced in a mental institution from nervous breakdown. Which would have left it up to the state (that's all you taxpayers out there) to deal with the added financial burden of both my care and the care of not one but TWO children who would never be a functional, self sustaining portion of society.
I still find myself wondering at times, whether I made the right decisions, both with my 19 yr old and with the twin that I later terminated. Wondering whether if I had waited just a bit longer if the pregnancy wouldn't have finished ending itself. Wondering whether I should consider myself a murderer, or if there was really anything there to consider human TO murder. Wondering, even, whether there was a chance that all the tests were wrong and the fetus could have turned out to be a fully functioning child without handicaps if we had allowed the pregnancy to continue. None of those are questions that I will likely ever find satisfactory answers to.
The point of all this? The next time you sit in judgement and give blanket condemnation for the procedure - keep a few things in mind. Every woman who faces the procedure faces her own inner demons over it in some form or fashion. Every child born with severe handicaps who could have been terminated in utero - places a financial drain on society, picking up the tab for their medical care. Every child born to a poverty striken family - places a financial drain on society, picking up the tab for feeding and clothing them. Government money to help raise those children isn't "free" money - it has to come from somewhere - and that Somewhere is YOU. You the Taxpayer.
I will never condone aborting as a means of birth control - there are far to many other options available. That does not mean, however, that I will ever agree that it should be outlawed or made unavailable. To often, it isn't the "better" choice - it's the Only choice.
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Rhi
Light travels faster than sound, which is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
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RE: Abortion - 
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