The abortion debate seems to have been boiled down to the talking points of a woman’s right to choose how to treat her body vs. an unborn child’s right to life.
I still hold to the belief that an unborn child is dependent upon a woman’s body, but not a part of it.
With that in mind, here is my sincere, sci-fi hypothetical question for my pro-choice friends: if a procedure, as equally invasive as abortion, were created to remove the fetus so it could be implanted into a woman desiring a child, would you then support making abortion illegal?
In other words, if “adoptive transplantation” were possible, would you then support legislation making abortion illegal?
Why or why not?
REMINDER: This is an emotionally charged subject on both sides. Comments that are attacking, abusive, condescending, or otherwise disrespectful will be deleted. Honest dialogue only occurs in safe places; let’s keep this site one of those places. Thanks!
Bekah Mason 
This may be tangential to your post, but many in the pro-life movement in the US continue to assert or maintain the view that women are not “pro-choice”. The whole abortion issue is largely caused by “irresponsible” men in their eyes.
A cursory review of all the posts by women here at WordPress on this issue refutes this view. From my real world experiences over many years, it is clear that many women are pro-choice and these are not the type of women who can be pressured into anything. The pro-life movement may help its cause if it faces the unpleasant fact that is has not been able to reach pro-choice women.
The whole truth, as contrasted to a half truth, is that both women and men are responsible for abortions.
Larry,
Thanks for your thoughts. I for one agree with your observations. This is not a single gender issue, but the most vocal pro-choice advocates are women. The recent political discussions concerning birth control, ultrasounds and other reproductive issues confirm that there is a strong group of women who militantly deny anyone else’s ability to have a say over decisions concerning their bodies.
Men and women are both responsible and impacted by abortions. There is also a growing response from men who would have been the fathers of children aborted by women who were practicing their right to choose. Those men had a choice in creating that child, but had no voice in consequences of the choice of abortion. Their stories of grief and anger are as heartbreaking as those I hear from women who have later regretted having abortions.
There are still those who have had abortions, claim they have no regret and say it was the best decision for them at that time in their life. Just goes to show to that all issues of ethics, when muddied by politics and religion, are much more complicated than meet the eye.
My question was based upon the arguments I continue to hear about women’s bodies and about invasive procedures. I was just wondering if an alternative that alleviated both of those reasons for abortions would change anyone’s mind or if most people who are pro-choice still would believe abortion should always be an option.
No, because it takes a choice about what happens to your body away from you – your genetic material is still out there in the world. If a person wanted to place their child for adoption, they would. They didn’t make that choice – they want to end the pregnancy.
Thanks for your response. I had not considered the genetic material point. However, the genetic material is not one person’s alone; what if the father has no problem (or even desires) that his genetic material be reproduced in the world? Isn’t the choice about what to do with our bodies as women determined when we choose to engage in sexual activity? Seems that from that point, we have invited another person into the choice about what happens with our bodies.
Then he should go and reproduce in the world. He does not get to dictate a decision that has zero implications on his physical body. It comes down to a bodily integrity issue for me; we don’t dictate that a parent MUST receive an organ transplant to save their life, we don’t dictate that a beloved friend MUST go through chemo because it may bring their cancer into remission. We are affected by others decisions all the time but what happens to our bodies must be our decision.
A choice to be sexually active does not imply blanket permission for pregnancy. Birth control fails. Sexual assault is a reality. There are entirely too many “what if” situations – which is why choice matters.
Anon (great user name),
You give proof to my first comment above.
The fallacy in your thinking is that your holier than thou choice involves not just your body, but the body of your child. Have you ever seen the outcome of an abortion? I have. It is not a “blob of tissue”.
Thank your mother that she did not opt to have your body dismembered when you were in her uterus for 9 months.
A woman’s first right is to be born.
Larryzb, your comments directly contradict Bekah’s wishes for dialog: “REMINDER: This is an emotionally charged subject on both sides. Comments that are attacking, abusive, condescending, or otherwise disrespectful will be deleted.”
And since I’ve had three miscarriages and witnessed exactly what comes out of my body, you can take your shameful, poisonous, hate-filled words elsewhere.
How dare you.