My Body-My Choice, Examined

 

The most common argument we hear presented by those who adopt Pro Abortion/Pro Choice positions, is the simple moniker "My Body, My Choice". I want to approach this argument from a couple angles, both religious (Eastern Orthodox) and secular in nature, as I am well aware that arguments from spiritual tradition will hardly hold much weight among non-believers. The amount of time spent on each angle will reflect that.

 

Let us first examine the moniker my body, my choice. Let me start by laying out a thought experiment. Let's suppose that a young expectant woman lives in a cabin, quite some distance from town. She gives birth in this cabin, alone.  A day after the birth, she decides she no longer wishes to have the child. Obviously her ripping her 1 day old child apart with forceps would be indefensible for most (Looking at you, Pete Singer). But how about inaction? What if she were to not harm her child directly, but rather neglected to do anything? Just allowed her child to starve in their bedroom whilst carrying upon with life. We would also say this is morally wrong. Why? Surely saying THAT should be illegal demonstrates the government has the right to FORCE (Necessary in any law) the individuals to use their bodies in a specific manner, at a specific time. (Namely, to provide life sustaining care for their child). I think one would be hard pressed to provide an argument against this, as almost no societal, enforceable expectation is as basic as one's parental fiduciary duties. Let me address what I perceive to be the main arguments that would be levied against this position.

 

Argument 1: "Sure, the mother (and father) has a duty to her born children, but she has the choice to leave that duty at any time, at which point her body CEASES to be regulated towards forced care."(ie adoption, guardian release, etc)

 

I understand the sentiment behind this argument, but it does contain one glaring flaw. If a mother decides to rescind her duty, what would that entail? Certainly it could not be instantaneous. It would require the mother commit to the acts neccessary to sustain the life and health of the child, until such a point was reached where she was not required. This could be 30 seconds to a fire-station, or 30 days into the city. Meaning if the fetus is "fully human", than we have ought to have laws protecting them via requiring duty to care. I actually think this conclusion is not protested much from the PA/PC side. I think it rather serves to demonstrate that this is not actually an issue of the bodily autonomy of the mother, but rather an issue of the ontological status of humans invitro, as we have no problem regulating women and men's bodies to care for their children. 

 

Argument 2: "Even if we grant the above, a mother is NOT required by law to do anything possible to save the life of her child, especially when risk is present. Think about a child stuck in a house fire. Even if we consider her inaction to be unfortunate, you would be hard pressed to find one saying that she ought be compelled

 

 

 

 

I will briefly lay out the the approach to this argument from a religious perspective. Our bodies are not actually "our own" in any real sense. We have certain things we, in the fullest sense of the word, "ought" to do, and ultimately every molecule of us is sustained and owed to God. Because the secular worldview cannot offer any objective oughts or teleology,(David Hume's Is/Ought dilemma) then they are really in no way JUSTIFIED in stating there actually is a right answer to this question, but rather that whatever serves the current utilitarian,progressive view is correct. I would argue abortion violates both natural and divine law, and as such should be illegal. I won't spend any more time on this perspective though, as an easy approach from the PA/PC side to respond here could be; I posit a God that loves and requires abortion. They could even take the heterodox position that God permits abortion, using Numbers 5 or Exodus 19 as justification. This then ultimately leads to theological/paradigmatic debate, which I will not dive into here. I merely wanted to pay the theological perspective a little lip service.

 

If you find yourself in this current dilemma, pregnant, afraid, unsure, please reach out to me via the email below, and I will ensure you are linked up with a full spectrum of resources in your respective area. If you are someone that has had abortion(s), remember that you are no more a sinner than I, and that there is redemption, forgiveness, and peace in Christ. May the Lord bless and keep you.