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Being Pregnant is More Dangerous Than Getting an Abortion

Now tell us something less obvious, amirite?

Given the plethora of statistics we’ve been provided about how dangerous it is to have a baby—even in the United States, where you might think that it would be safe by now—it’s no surprise that an official study has been released saying that abortion is safer than childbirth. As a woman who nearly died and lost her own child during my pregnancy, I can vouch for how scary this is, and how seriously it needs to be taken.

Now all of the people who claim they are against abortion not because they hate women and want to keep them barefoot and in the kitchen but because they are supposedly concerned for their health since abortion is like, so dangerous, can stfu.

I should not have to maintain that nobody is “pro-abortion,” and that everyone would love to live in a world where it’s not needed—you know, a world where men respect women, do not rape them, and women and men are provided 100% effective birth control, along with comprehensive sex education, comprehensive health plans, 100% safe pregnancies that aren’t affected by disease…need I go on? But until we have that day, we’re going to need abortion readily available for anyone who needs it, and now it’s been proven that it’s actually safer than childbirth.

So people like Rick Santorum, who will never, ever face a pregnancy—unplanned or otherwise—in their entire lives but nevertheless cheerily say that rape victims should make the best out of a bad situation by going through such a process, should now admit that they are calling for victims of rape and incest to further endanger themselves and risk their lives a second time after the act of rape, since it’s safer for them to have an abortion. If a victim chooses to carry out her pregnancy, so be it; but it can no longer be argued that it’s a safer choice for her than abortion. If she chooses to abort, her odds of not being sick or dying are actually improved.

I am not saying that we all need to call for abortions for every woman now; I’m only highlighting the fact that A. this old rhetoric is now null and void (though we all knew it was to begin with) and B. that we need to keep the option available and accessible more than ever now that we are sure it’s safer for women. So that also means that people like Michelle Bachmann who are going around saying that abortion will be illegal in a year need to stfu as well and leave the medical procedure up to the people who will be considering or needing it, and do the thing they call for so often—get their noses out of other people’s private lives.

Help Stop the DC Abortion Ban

If you support a law, and your local legislators support it, and your own city has raised the funding to support it, don’t you think you should be able to keep that legislation in tact? Imagine if it were, say, funding for children’s healthcare programs, or even for an animal shelter. I bet you wouldn’t protest it. It has nothing to do with you or your life or your money, after all, and it’s for a good cause.

But when that issue is abortion, everyone has to step in and protest. Anti-choice legislators are doing just that right now in Washington, D.C. Though the local leaders do not support such a ban, and they’ve worked hard to make money to support it, anti-choice leaders are voraciously trying to ban the funding that’s been raised to help low-income women in D.C. obtain an abortion.

What is that money going to go to, then? How is it their right to mandate what is done with funds raised for a specific purpose when it’s not even in their constituency? As NARAL Pro-Choice America states, no other state or jurisdiction is told what to do with their dollars in such a way—and yet because this isn’t a state, and because of the issue at hand—a health issue that affects women, mind you—it’s somehow up for debate and commentary.

I keep crossing my fingers for the day that men in this country—particularly leaders—can get pregnant. Sure, it’s not going to happen, but could you imagine if it did? Drive-thru abortion clinics for everyone!

If you think this ban is utter crap like I do, please click here. Tell legislators to mind their own constituency business and to leave the health issues of women in Washington, D.C. up to that community. Even if you aren’t a big pro-choice activist, the issue of individual community rights to use the monies they’ve raised on what they want to use them on affects us all. How would you like it if you helped raise funds for an issue you care about in your area, only to have legislators across the country descend upon you and demand that your intentions be banned?

Of course, the real issue here is the health and choice of women in Washington, D.C. Until we allow women in this country the same body autonomy that men are afforded, and until we keep church and state fully separate in politics and the law, we’re going to keep having these problems.

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