It breaks my heart to hear the terms “dismemberment,” “rip” and “punish” used to talk about late-term abortions. Even from fellow women, I have seen hate that comes from ignorance and a lack of research. Donald Trump states, “You can take the baby and rip the baby out of the womb in the ninth month on the final day.” This is a heartbreaking fallacy that is sickly insensitive to the decisions made by families that are often hit by impossible choices.
Women who carry a child for eight months are not getting abortions because they decide the child is no longer wanted. These families are faced with late-term detections of fatal or horribly gruesome health defects. These choices often include a choice between a birth that is likely to kill the mother and unlikely that the child could possibly survive. These choices often include women who will give birth to a dead child or have an abortion to prevent the horror and emotional scarring. These choices are often the hardest decisions possible for a family. Yet, Trump speaks of punishing these women even more than they already have been.
Even abortions before the first trimester have garnered a lot of false information surrounding them. Ninety-two percent of abortions occur before the end of the first trimester. The heartbeat cannot be heard until 20 weeks and the baby cannot survive outside of the womb until 22 weeks. Pictures of tiny, fully-developed babies in the womb at six weeks is false and used for the emotional response. The stereotype that abortion is for irresponsible women who sleep around is often false and used to demonize those who choose to get an abortion.
The truth is, 55.7 percent of women who get abortions have never had one before. Three-fourths of all women who get abortions do so because it would get in the way of school or work; the same amount report not being able to afford the child. While many pro-life activists question why these women just do not give the child up for adoption, the pregnancy often cannot be afforded either.
For the women who are not able to afford health care (the very same health care that Trump opposes universal coverage for), a vaginal birth can cost $30,000 and a c-section can cost up to $50,000. For those with insurance, the out-of-pocket cost can be up to $15,000 depending on the state. On the other hand, an abortion with no insurance is only up to $700 and with insurance it ranges from $0 to $200. While this is a sad commentary on how America treats its expecting mothers, the truth of the matter is that some women just cannot afford to go through even the pregnancy; however, it is not fair to question the wealth of the woman receiving an abortion. There is a plethora of valid reasons behind the women who go through abortion, all personal decisions that do not have to validated by those not involved.
This trend of the public involving themselves in an incredibly personal decision has become a trend that overshadows topics that have a large scale effect. Civil rights have become a hot topic during this election. While conservatives are rallying behind Donald Trump’s pro-life positions, they also cheer for lessening civil rights.
One of the more recent events was Donald Trump planning to revoke nationwide marriage equality. While this may be an issue affecting a minority there is little legal reason to allow the states to limit marriage to homosexual couples. The ban on interracial marriage had much of the same opposition to it. Currently, the majority opinion in the United States is that interracial marriage is no different. Donald Trump has also spoken about restoring the Patriot Act, an act that has been socially controversial since its creation. This is followed up by Trump’s wish for surveillance and record-keeping on mosques. While the stereotype of terrorism is of Muslim extremists, The New America Foundation has found after 9/11 that there have been nine attacks led by Muslim extremists that have killed 45 people and eighteen attacks led by white right-wing extremists killing 48 people.
While using tactics that have, in the past, only founded more terrorist groups, the United States recently killed 73 Syrian civilians in an airstrike. Trump’s profiling does not stop there. He continues to make generalized stereotypes about ethnic groups. The “rapists, criminals, and drug dealers” that Trump speaks about are more often normal human beings who just needed to escape a bad situation or wish to care of a family. The basic desire to care for a family is something that defines us all as human beings, whether it be of blood or of our own creation.
The thing connecting these social trends is the masses rallying behind their sides. If the goodwill that has been supporting the pro-life movement would first focus on the quality of life of those already alive rather than debating the morals of theoretical life, the world around us might not be filled with so much hate. If instead of focusing on the unborn there was a focus on providing education for those children in school currently, it is possible we wouldn’t be falling behind in the world. It is possible that if instead of telling women they are wrong for using their bodies for pleasure we invested in accessible female birth control and universal in-depth sex-ed, there would be less accidents and mistakes. In every situation, such as the debate on abortion, there is a possibility to react with hate or an option to be open-minded and find a solution that may solve the issue as a whole. In conclusion, I beg of you to react with love next time Donald Trump speaks of fear, and ask yourself when the last time a problem was fixed with hatred.
