On October 31, U of T Students For Life set up several display tables outside Sidney Smith, trying to raise awareness about abortion. Representatives from Aid to Women and Birthright attended, providing information about their efforts on behalf of pregnant women and women undergoing post-abortion trauma. Pro-choice advocates attended as well, voicing their support for “women’s right to choose.”
The word “choice” is eminently positive. Many people see abortion through that lens: women have choice, period. They needn’t abort if they don’t want to, and they can if they do. Choice. A good thing.
But since when is simply having choice the goal of any decision-making process? Isn’t the point rather to make the right choice? It’s useless to exalt “choice” while pretending that there is no right or wrong decision. Our efforts regarding abortion should go towards helping women make the right choice, rather than just any choice.
There are many decisions that are left up to personal preference, both inconsequential (choice of salad dressing) and significant (choice of career). However there are also choices in which there is a clear right and wrong-for example, the choice to steal.
Is abortion of this latter nature? The answer hinges on one question: What is the fetus? If the fetus is not human, the issue of whether or not to abort is one of mere preference. If the fetus is human, then there is a clear right and wrong.
The open investigation of this question is essential if we are to talk legitimately about “choice.” After all, don’t women deserve to know all the factors that could influence their decision, including the possibility that the fetus is human?
However, in Canada and in most other countries where abortion is legal, there is very little in the way of open, public debate about the issue, so women are often unaware of the arguments for and against the humanity of the fetus. Yet surely the full range of opinion must be heard if women are to actually have a real choice in the matter.
Abortion is given much more attention than other solutions to the problems of an unwanted pregnancy. Imagine that you are a young woman who unexpectedly becomes pregnant. You have no resources with which to bring up the child. You look at your options, and they are limited to a frightening, unknown future caring for a child you didn’t want, or resolving the situation through abortion. Is it any wonder that you would see the abortion as your best option?
But how can this be a true choice if you haven’t been informed of the support that is available to you? Perhaps there are many women who would not have chosen abortion if they had known that there were other options.
Abortion also holds well-documented potential health risks for women, such as an increased risk of breast cancer. Women need to be told about these potential problems, just as a patient is informed of possible complications arising from other medical procedures. But in Canada there is almost no public discussion of the health issues associated with abortion. Giving women choice requires that we inform them of any potential risks.
We need to be able to discuss all the issues surrounding abortion openly and publicly, because a more informed choice is a better choice. Women deserve to have all the information available so they can truly choose.
