Woke up Thursday morning with the above message from amnesty international appealing for signatures for a petition and it broke my heart because I have an 11 year old daughter as well. I could not believe that the country of Paraguay had to be petitioned to give the 10year old an abortion after being raped by her stepfather. She just wants the pain and discomfort to stop and her mother has been crying and begging the government to let her daughter have an abortion because the pregnancy could kill her. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that for a 10year old, giving birth will put her health at risk because her body is not fully developed. After my initial anger I decided to play devil's advocate, its not the baby's fault that they were conceived like they were so why should they have pay for someone's mistake. After all isn't abortion the taking of life and that's wrong regardless of whose life it is. Why should the mother's emotional needs matter more than the baby's?
The debate about abortion is a long running one. When is ok to have an abortion? Is it ever ok to have an abortion?
I am from a catholic background and so was raised to be a against abortion but I have since learnt that the question about whether or not to have an abortion is not always one that can be answered with a simple yes or no.
In many african countries abortion is illegal even if the woman has been raped or in cases of incest. It is only legal in cases where it puts the woman's health at risk. So a woman will be made to carry and then birth her rapist's baby unless she can prove that carrying on with the pregnancy will endanger her life. Firstly there's the mother who cannot move on from her rape ordeal and then when the child is born and grows up, how will he/she feel about being the product of rape.
But then again it's not the baby's fault that he/she was conceived so why should they be terminated.
My take is this: whether or not to terminate a pregnancy is a very personal and difficult decision for the mother and the healthcare professional who carries it out. Because ultimately they are the ones that will have to live with the decision. Its got nothing do with the rest of us who are not directly involved. I don't think anyone has the right to force a woman to carry or not to carry a baby she should have the right to choose especially in the case of rape or incest. If anyone should have an opinion it should be the people who have walked down that path themselves and know exactly how the woman feels about carrying the baby of a rapist. Not a man, pastor, rabbi, priest or other religious leaders. Not government bodies or charity groups.
What are your thoughts on abortion???
To add your signature to the petition please visit http://www.amnesty.org.uk/
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