By Sophia Franco
Managing Editor of Features
In the 10th grade, my church, as part of my preparation for confirmation, offered me the opportunity to attend The March for Life, a three-day event in Washington DC where Catholics gather to protest the ruling of Roe v. Wade, a decision that made abortion legal in the United States. Confirmation is a sacrament, a step forward on the journey towards a more religious life. Confirmation signifies a reaffirmation of one’s faith, an opportunity to show that one has made the conscious decision to live by faith.
But why was the church so concerned with women’s bodies? Why couldn’t they be more compassionate to the struggles of a pregnant woman?
For me, however, this invitation posed a problem. I come from a family of true blue democrats; we side with each and every leftist policy measure, including the right to safe and accessible abortions, so when I first heard of the trip, I was appalled. Why was the church so backwards in its teachings? Why couldn’t they allow people to have control of their own bodies?
The Catholic Church holds the position that life begins at conception and that abortion is akin to murder. This stance angered me, but more than that it scared me. That’s because I found a part of me agreeing with their logic.
In Newton, it’s easy enough to be a liberal who never has to worry about their political opinions being wrong. Liberals are the loud majority, with signs for Hillary and Bernie seemingly sprouting from every other lawn. Although conservatives live all over the city, they are usually made to feel that their voices are inferior and don’t deserve to be listened to. Therefore, it was easy for me to be pro-choice and to feel as though my opinion was the smartest and most logical one.
I was always well-armed with a defense for my stance: the thing being aborted is just a bundle of cells, you can’t force women to go through a long and painful process they don’t want to go through, the same people pushing for banning abortions want to cut welfare and food stamps, and so on. Yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that there were holes in my argument.
On both sides, there are a slew of reasonings to ban or legalize abortion. Some are certainly tenuous. For example, it doesn’t make sense to argue back and forth over whether the baby would have cured cancer or been the next Hitler– there’s simply no way to know. On the pro-choice side specifically, it’s a bit privileged and unfeeling to say that a baby who is put into foster care won’t have a good life and therefore shouldn’t be given the chance to live. On the pro-life, side it’s impossible to ignore the emotional trauma that can be caused to a victim of rape who is forced to carry a child to term. It’s easy to pick apart facets of each argument. So let’s examine the best arguments from both sides.
The divide in essence is that pro-life values the life of the fetus over the freedom of the mother, while pro-choice values the freedom of the mother over the life of the fetus. A strong argument for banning abortion is that no matter how you frame things, abortion takes away the life the fetus had the potential to live. No matter how costly it is for the mother to carry the fetus, that potential life is worth more.
The strong argument for keeping abortion legal is that no one should be able to force such a large burden as carrying a child onto a woman against her will. Not only is it expensive and demanding, it also risks the health of the mother. If a woman truly does not want to be pregnant, who are we to force it upon her?
Even discounting this stance, the truth is abortion isn’t going to be eliminated if it is banned. Those who have the money will simply travel to a country where it is legal and have it performed there, while those who don’t will use highly unsafe methods to abort the fetus. Should we forgo the safety of pregnant women simply for what is, at the time, just a grouping of cells?
Here, I must admit that I am torn. Legally, I support the right to abortion, but growing up Catholic and liberal, I can see the logic in both sides. If I’m being honest, I truly don’t know which one I align with more. I value the life of the fetus, yet I can’t turn a blind eye to the needs of the mother. That’s why I’m going to propose a truce.
It’s unlikely that either side will ever convince the other. The option that will be most productive is to put aside the debate and focus on a course of action that both sides agree upon: the need for abortion should be eliminated.
Now we approach another roadblock. While some argue that easy access to contraception solves the problem, the Catholic Church again and other Christian sects that tend to be pro-life oppose the use of contraception and especially oppose its distribution to teens and children who are at high risk for unwanted pregnancy. Again we have to put aside the disagreement and focus on the common goal.
That leads us to one shared interest: the well-being of the mother. At my church, we often hold collections for pregnancy help centers that provide counseling and services to those with unwanted pregnancies. Pro-choice supporters would also agree that providing aid to women who are pregnant is an important issue. We can decrease abortions by making it easier to be a pregnant woman.
What does this entail? This solution calls for the upkeep, if not improvement, of welfare programs that help those who cannot afford food or healthcare to support women during and after pregnancy. It means the creation of policies that aim to specifically help pregnant women meet their needs. It includes the passing of laws that protect pregnant women in the workplace and the implementation of better maternity leave policies. It also necessitates a conscious effort to decrease the stigma surrounding unmarried women and especially teenagers who become pregnant.
It may be impossible for either side to agree on the legality of abortion. However, it is not unfeasible to carry out changes that will help remove the problems that motivate women to have abortions. While I’ll continue to struggle with the fundamental argument for and against abortion, I know that I can implement my Catholic faith by advocating for and helping those who are in need. I ended up declining to walk in the March for Life, but that choice doesn’t mean I’ll be turning my back on either pregnant women or the lives they carry.
