Guest Opinion: Banning abortion isn't the way to end it

Pro-child, pro-family, pro-choice.

Catchphrases like this are easy to use to express an opinion. I must confess I use them often as bumper stickers. But you can’t begin and end with them. There must be an in depth exploration of the topic at hand as well as an openness to conversation. There must be a willingness to listen to what others think, and why. Life is complicated, even if we don’t want it to be.

As for the topic at hand — abortion — my own thoughts on the matter are much more nuanced than six words can convey. And I welcome conversation about them. I worry a great deal that there is not enough conversation.

In my opinion, abortion is a tragedy. A woman having to confront the decision about whether to have an abortion, is a woman in a place she probably never imagined herself or wanted to be in.

Abortion is about ending a life, a fact many take as the beginning and the end of the subject, and that others try to avoid.

In fact, this life is ended in as many as 10% to 20% of pregnancies in which women know they are pregnant, and as many as 30% if you include those that occur before a woman is aware of the pregnancy. This is called a miscarriage. Some may say it is “God’s will” others bad luck. But this happens.

Some women end their pregnancies for medical reasons — an ectopic pregnancy, aneuploidy or anencephaly, or for maternal health conditions for which carrying a pregnancy to term is contraindicated. These are medical decisions. This is a tragedy. We do fetal surgery to help some conditions that were once near uniformly fatal but we can’t fix everything. Carrying a nonviable fetus to term endangers the life of the mother for no reason.

Some women have “elective” abortions. This is a terrible term that makes it easy to assume these are financially independent consenting adults who have knowledge about the outcome of sex, the power to say no and access to reliable contraception. It also implies they have a supportive partner, a job with a livable wage, health insurance, and maternity leave. This term paints the picture of a decision made lightly and without thought by an irresponsible person who doesn’t deserve our empathy.

This is simply not true.

I want to end the need for abortions, but I recognize that the way to do it is not to ban them. These bans only help to ease the conscience of some and, worse, perpetuate a classification of women as second class citizens without natural rights, all at the expense of reality. This is a complex issue that will not go away because you pass a law.

If you want to end the need for abortion, as I do, then let’s work together to improve our society.

Let’s raise the minimum wage, let’s provide universal health care, let’s educate our children about their bodies and about what consent looks like. Let’s provide access to contraception.

Let’s guarantee paid family leave. Let’s actually punish men who assault women, including their partners/spouses or who use their economic or societal power to “persuade” women to have sex with them. And let’s do it without putting the victim on the firing line. Let’s stop imprisoning people at such high rates thereby breaking apart families and perpetuating cycles of poverty.

Let’s truly value children and support families by actually putting our money where our mouth is. (Sorry, I slipped and used a catchphrase). Let’s recognize families of all configurations and raise them up and celebrate them. Let’s finally pass the equal rights amendment and recognize and codify that all people of any and all genders and orientations are full and equal participants in this country.

If you want to end abortion, hold your elected officials accountable to help meet the needs of families. And give women back the right to control their own bodies. If they have to face this tragedy, let’s give them the dignity and respect to face it according to their own consciences, not yours or mine.

Dr. Sheila Knerr is a pediatrician living in Chalfont.

This article originally appeared on The Intelligencer: Guest Opinion: Banning abortion isn't the way to end it