Most of the debates on abortion I have encountered dive into the issue of abortion without looking into the reasons why women seek abortions. In this blog, I want to explore these reasons and address some practical implications.
The Research
According to the Guttmacher Institute, an international study involving women from 27 countries concluded that “Worldwide, the most commonly reported reason women cite for having an abortion is to postpone or stop childbearing. The second most common reason—socioeconomic concerns—includes disruption of education or employment; lack of support from the father; desire to provide schooling for existing children; and poverty, unemployment or inability to afford additional children. Also, relationship problems with a husband or partner and a woman's perception that she is too young constitute other important categories of reasons.”[i] In other words, the top reasons cited are not related to life and death dilemmas, serious medical reasons, or significant emotional trauma as in the cases of rape. We will address these exceptional cases at some point.
The data also suggests that women don’t typically seek abortion for the sake of abortion or simply because it is within their rights.
Moreover, research suggests that very little change in these reasons has taken place over the last few decades. For example, a study analyzed quantitative and qualitative data from 1987 to 2004 and concluded that “ the main reasons women cited for ending pregnancies were the same in both: Having a baby would dramatically interfere with their education, work or ability to care for their dependents, or they could not afford a baby at the time. In addition, qualitative data from in-depth interviews portrayed women who had had an abortion as typically feeling that they had no other choice, given their limited resources and existing responsibilities to others.”[ii] In other words, women who seek abortion believe that they had no other option to evade it. Whether that perception is real or imagined, none of these women would have sought abortion if the circumstances and relationships offered the right support.
Moreover, research unveiled a preference to abort an embryo over giving the child up for adoption upon birth. There has been a documented reduction in the adoption of newborns since the legalization of abortion. When asked about their views on adoption instead of abortion, some women reported that adoption “was a morally unconscionable option because giving one’s child away is wrong.”[iii] Others refused adoption as they perceived adoption to be too emotionally painful and distressful, while other women refused it in fear of the child ending up with a bad family.[iv] Finally, according to Focus on the Family, “More than 54% of women considering abortion who receive counselling and an ultrasound choose life. Since 2004, more than 459,000 women have chosen life for their babies.”[v] In other words, some women don’t think of the embryo as a human- being or else they would not have changed their minds by just looking at the ultrasound of their unborn children. I bet if we were to ask these same women if they would kill their one or two-year-old toddler to undo a financial difficulty for the sake of the family’s well-being, she would scream, “bloody no”. Most of them won’t realize what you just did.
What Did You Just Do?
You unmasked a deeply entrenched belief that the unborn are not essentially the same thing as humans; somehow, they fall below the status of being fully human.
What do these reports reveal to us?
First, most women have not considered the possibility that the unborn is essentially a human being. This was evident by the nature of their responses to why they sought abortions and rejected adoption as an alternative.
Second, they shed light on where we have fallen short. We have fallen short fighting ideologies that sold the lie that the unborn do not have the same rights as the rest of us. They also show that we, as a community, favoured the “easy way out.” When a woman, under the heavy burdens of life, is tempted to terminate her pregnancy, she is told that this will save her and is for the best interest of the unborn who may end up being raised in bad conditions. Instead of standing by women, shoulder to shoulder, carrying her burdens and fears, our actions have just affirmed that they are too huge and perhaps too shameful to bear.
Conclusion
While we should address false lies selling the belief that embryos are less than humans and while I think this will address the bulk part of the issue, a holistic approach entails addressing women’s reported challenges.
Endnotes
[i] Akinrinola Bankole, Susheela Singh, and Taylor Haas, “Reasons Why Women Have Induced Abortions: Evidence from 27 Countries,” International perspectives on Sexual Reproductive Health 24, no. 3 (September 2, 1998), https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/ipsrh/1998/09/reasons-why-women-have-induced-abortions-evidence-27-countries.
[iii] Lawrence B. Finer et al., “Reasons u.s. Women Have Abortions: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives,” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 37, no. 3 (2005): 110-18, https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/journals/3711005.pdf.. One-third of the women gave that response in this study.
[iv] Olga Khazan, “Why so Many Women Choose Abortion Over Adoption,” The Atlantic, May 20, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/05/why-more-women-dont-choose-adoption/589759/
[v] “Option Ultrasound,” Focus on the Family, accessed October 13, 2020, https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life/option-ultrasound-life-advocate/.