"It's a form of healthcare!"
On Abortion
Some may worry about the physical wellbeing of the mother. “Pregnancy is risky! So much can go wrong! What if she dies during childbirth?” However, the fact of the matter is that, by far, the majority of women are perfectly safe during pregnancy and most maternal deaths are preventable. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the maternal mortality rate in Australia in 2021 was 5.8 deaths per 100,000 pregnant women. Of the 191 maternal deaths which took place from 2012 to 2021, most were only indirectly related to the pregnancy, and large portion was coincidental (e.g., cancer, motor vehicle trauma). From 2012 to 2018, women ages 20-24 were the least likely to die from pregnancy or birth, followed by ages 30-34 and 25-29 (recall that most women who get an abortion are in their twenties) – women under the age of twenty had the highest mortality rate. For the vast majority, abortion does not qualify as healthcare issue.
Abortion-supporters will often refer to instances where the pregnancy does pose a threat to the life of the mother. Chorioamnionitis is a dangerous condition involving an inflection of the placenta and the amniotic fluid. Chorioamnionitis can cause the baby to be born early and can lead to complications (and possible death). If the mother stays infected, she will die. An even more dangerous instance is an ectopic pregnancy – when an embryo implants itself outside of the womb (most commonly in one of the fallopian tubes). Ectopic pregnancy is fatal for the embryo, who cannot survive outside of the womb. It is also dangerous for the mother, causing her fallopian tube to burst or rupture and leading to life-threatening bleeding.
It must be said that directly and intentionally taking the preborn child’s life is not our only option here. Instead of doing an evil act, it is far better to do good or neutral acts to bring about an effect. To address chorioamnionitis, you need to get the infected membranes out of the mother’s body by inducing labour. Removing infection is a good action – leaving it alone would have resulted in the deaths of both the mother and child. The good effect is that the mother does not die. The bad effect is that, if it is prior to viability (i.e., the child cannot survive outside of the womb at that stage of development), the preborn baby will die. This is not an abortion – this is a response to a rapidly growing infection.
Suppose a woman is 23 weeks pregnant but has cancer and needs chemotherapy. If waiting one more week would not threaten her life, then the child could be born at 24 weeks and put into an incubator, giving the child a higher chance of survival than if the mother had chemotherapy earlier while pregnant. The mother can then go on to receive chemotherapy and both parties can, in the best instance, go on to live. But if the mother was earlier in her pregnancy and there was no time to wait, or else she will die, then it may be permissible to administer chemotherapy if the mother so chose. We’re not administering chemotherapy to harm or kill the child, but to kill the cancer.
In the case of an ectopic pregnancy (in the fallopian tube, in this instance), instead of an abortion, the mother could have a salpingectomy – a removal of a fallopian tube. If it were possible to take that embryo and implant it somewhere else, we would do so, but we lack that technology. The bad effect then is the dead embryo, and the good effect is that the mother survives. We must consider the action and intention. An abortion targets the child and intends to bring about its demise. A salpingectomy targets the fallopian tube and the intention (if the technology existed) would be to save both lives.
Imagine two people are drowning and you lack the strength to save both. You have a few options – successfully save one, don’t save either, or unsuccessfully try to save both. The best thing is to save one. Obviously, in doing so, you don’t then turn around to intentionally and directly kill the other person. You might save one, then move to save the other, but he sinks and drowns before you can do so – but you did not kill him, you just failed to save him. The result is the same, but the means are profoundly different. Likewise with an abortion and salpingectomy. Direct abortion is not medically necessary.
Some will move away from the extreme and instead say that pregnancy itself is a medical condition. However, a medical condition is a "disease, illness or injury, or any physiologic, mental or psychological condition or disorder... A biological or psychological state which is within the range of normal human variation is not a medical condition." Pregnancy is within this normal range, and is therefore not a medical condition. It can certainly be a distressing and negative experience, but it is still no more of a medical coniditon than teething, puberty, or growth pains.
The abortion-supporter might argue that women are going to try to abort anyway – which is dangerous and unsafe. 8-11% of global maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortions. But for such cases, I have little patience. It's like asking for murder or rape to be made legal, so that they can be committed more safely. Why should an abortion-opposer be concerned about whether or not a person is safe while they commit murder? There are so many options for women. The fact that they might then still choose to put themselves at risk, all for the sake of killing their own child, is not a good argument - nor will it gather much sympathy from the opposing side.
Suppose authorities tell their people that to join the enemy is treason. They are also warned that attempting to get to the enemy requires a journey through a mine field, which is impossible to navigate through without professional assistance. Others can’t then turn to the authorities and say, “People are going to try to join the enemy anyway – and they’ll die! You might as well help them out.” Well, no. That’s on them. [Not a perfect analogy, but you get it.] It is also worth noting that women die from "safe" abortions also. Making abortion more accessible does not eliminate maternal deaths due to abortion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQKZsfy_YdM&ab_channel=PintsWithAquinas <- Special thanks to this source featuring Stephanie Gray: Highly recommend!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIEt018Xmyk&list=PLC4ArCh57MOo8NyW0nzDCxU8_qzCaNR09&index=14&ab_channel=PintsWithAquinas Contraception can be an unsafe option also - abstinence is the most sure and safe option.