Roe v. Wade: Understanding America’s Abortion Debate (Part 2)

By: Janice Dantes

 

(Continuation of article from last month’s issue.)

Re-victimizing the victim. Pregnancy could be a traumatic event for a victim of rape and/or incest. The pregnant person may not be ready to come forward with what happened to her and may want to only terminate the pregnancy as she decides how to move forward with her life. If a victim of a crime of rape and/or incest is forced to reveal the crime against her in order to terminate the pregnancy, she could be subjected to an investigation, interrogations, and facing her perpetrators before she is ready to do so. This is particularly traumatic for very young victims. In recent news, a 10 year old girl seeking an abortion in Ohio was denied and had to travel to another state.

Creating an assumption that the life of the fetus is always more valuable that the life of the mother. Lastly, there are many complicated pregnancies which endanger the life of the mother. There are many stories of mothers desperately wanting the child they are carrying, but due to cancer or other life-threatening illness, they need medical interventions that would result in the death of the baby. In Ireland, Savita Halappanavar, a woman from India living in Ireland at the time, was denied an abortion to save her life due to Ireland’s strong Catholic tradition. Even though the pregnancy was no longer viable, the doctors were unwilling to terminate the pregnancy so long as the fetus continued to have a heartbeat. As a result of the restrictions, the mother became gravely ill as the doctors waited for the fetus’s heart to stop beating before they conducted any interventions. As a result, both the young mother and baby died. This case spurred Ireland’s abortion rights campaign. Other complicated situations include forcing a young child into motherhood when she is not ready and without any supports. Then to further complicate her life, she could be forced to co-parent with her rapist or relative who impregnated her. I think it is wrong to always place the life of the fetus in higher regard than the life of the mother.

4. The Problem with the Adoption Solution. Many people believe that adoption is the alternative for women having an unwanted pregnancy. Adoption is a very complicated process. First, in order for an adoption to occur, both parents have to agree to give the child up for adoption. There was a case in Illinois with a child named “Baby Richard” who was “unadopted” because the birth father was not notified of the child prior to the adoption and fought for his rights to raise his child. Because of that case, Illinois instituted the Putative Father’s database that allows any father to submit their information to be notified if they believe they may have impregnated someone. Also, adoptions are very expensive and require a significant amount of dedication to the process. Finally, pro-life advocates seem to believe that it is somehow easier for a woman to give up her child for adoption and will not suffer any ill effects as compared to abortion. Giving a child up for adoption is a difficult decision. Lastly, there is more supply than there is demand for children seeking adoption which is why there are children who remain in foster care until they “age out.”

If you would like to know about your options with an unwanted pregnancy, please call (312) 546-5077 or janice@pinaylaw.com.

Thank you for reading. Until we meet again, love one another. (To be continued on next issue)

Host and performer Janice Dantes with some guests and performers.

Janice with the Consular officials.

L-R: RJ Turija, Louella Cabalona, and Consular officials.

The musical family Janice Dantes, son Kai, and brother Alvin Dantes, featured musicians at the home concert.