Pro-life? Even not caring about the woman’s health?

Editor:

Flowers and others who passionately argue a position that abortion is wrong and call themselves pro-life do not convince me unless they also declare death penalty wrong.

And even then, their position on obstructing women’s health calls into question how “pro-life” they can be, given that any interference with a woman’s choice — in a system disallowing any abortion — leaves her at the mercy of courts if there is a medical reason requiring an abortion for her own life’s safety.

The bottom line is this: A woman’s right to her own good health means she has

the right to her own counsel when she feels the need to end a pregnancy. A fetus is not yet a baby when it cannot live outside the body. A woman might decide on life giving surgery in utero if needed, but she should not be required to have such — which, if abortion is illegal, would be a natural consequence.

We have already seen women who miscarry being accused of murder. When I miscarried with my second pregnancy, I could have been arrested. This shows again no mercy, no compassion for the woman, only for the tissue she carries.

It is good to remember that one of the ways women who get raped are advised is to have a “DNC.” But, wait,

the pregnancy might have started, so why is that OK? Because she doesn’t know?

The best way to help all girls and women is to make sure there is good reproductive health available, good programs also for boys and men about responsibility and care, and sufficient resources for health and care for anyone facing pregnancy, whether ending it or continuing.

And forgiveness when mistakes might happen, allowances that children and adults in situations of unplanned pregnancies can make a decision they feel necessary. Because girls, women, should not have to carry an unwanted fetus.