Women Deserve Better Than Abortion

By SERRIN M. FOSTER, Special To The Bulletin

Published: October 9, 2003

“Women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy also deserve unplanned joy,” notes Patricia Heaton, winner of two Emmy awards and a best-selling author. Heaton serves as honorary chair for Feminists for Life (FFL), a pro-woman, pro-life organization. FFL continues the tradition of early American feminists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who opposed abortion and sought to address its root causes.

The sad reality is that the “unplanned joy” Heaton envisions for women is all too rare. Instead, women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy often end up experiencing the tragic violence of abortion.

No “Choice” For Most

Statistics gathered by abortion supporters reveal that the primary reasons women turn to abortion are lack of financial resources and lack of emotional support. Many women also say they felt abandoned, or even coerced into having an abortion.

The women at highest risk of resorting to abortion are those of college age. One out of five abortions occurs in this age group. Women who tested positive for pregnancy at a campus clinic tell us that the next words they heard from clinic staff were “I’m so sorry.” Then they were handed a business card for a local abortion clinic. University counselors and professors echo this message, telling students that they can’t possibly continue their education and have a child—as if pregnancy makes women incapable of reading, writing or thinking.

Resources are similarly lopsided. Some colleges offer $300 loans for an abortion but no financial aid if the young woman gives birth. Housing, maternity coverage, child care and telecommuting options are nonexistent on many campuses and expensive on others.

Forcing a woman to choose between sacrificing her education or career plans and sacrificing her child is not much of a “free choice.” In other words, most women “choose” abortion precisely because they believe they have no other choice. Abortion is not a measure of society’s success in meeting the needs of women; it’s a measure of its failure.

Abortion Harms Women

The damage that abortion causes to women’s bodies can result in infertility, future miscarriages, breast cancer and even death. Many women also carry emotional scars from the experience.

Abortion is a symptom of—never a solution to—the problems faced by women. Abortion has completely failed as a social policy designed to aid women. It is a reflection that we have failed women—and that women have had to settle for far less than they need and deserve.

Real Help For Women

While the abortion debate often seems to be stalled at the impasse between “women’s rights” vs. “the baby,” the basic needs of women are often ignored. We have forgotten to ask women the questions, “What do you need? What do you really want?”

As advocates of women and children, we must see the humanity of every person who challenges us. Look at the question from the perspective of a person who embraces “choice.”

We also should seek a comprehensive review of the reasons that drive women to abortion. Every day that goes by with the needs of some pregnant women unmet is another day marked by thousands of abortions.

We need to listen, to hear women and create a comprehensive, step-by-step plan to systematically eliminate the root causes that drive so many women to abortion—primarily the lack of financial resources and lack of emotional support.

College campuses should reexamine their policies, attitudes and support for pregnant and parenting students and staff. Family-friendly workplaces that offer child care, flex time and telecommuting solutions can help lessen the pressure on women to choose between their careers and their children.

Pregnancy care centers need funding to assist women to follow through on a life-affirming choice—whether that involves married parenthood, single parenthood, extended family or co-parenting options, or adoption.

More and more Catholic churches are answering the call of the late Cardinal John O’Connor by opening their doors to help any woman in need. A parish-based model of pregnancy support called the Gabriel Project has been expanding rapidly across the country.

Our society needs once again to cherish motherhood, champion fatherhood, and celebrate the benefits and rewards of parenthood. Every woman deserves better, and every child deserves a chance at life.

Women Deserve Better

Increasingly, hard questions are being directed at abortion advocates whose unfulfilled promises have left us with 40 million missing children and 25 million women suffering in silence. May they be silent no more, and may we all be willing to listen to them.

Women must demand better for themselves and for those they love. After 30 years of a failed social experiment, let’s force the real question: “Don’t women deserve better than abortion?” The only good answer will be a resounding “Yes.”

Serrin M. Foster is president of Washington-based Feminists for Life of America.

Copyright © 2003, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.