I, personally, am against abortions. I, however, understand that it’s not my body that a baby will grow in and it’s not my circumstances that the persons considering an abortion live in. I can’t put myself in their shoes. I’m firmly pro-choice. It’s their bodies and their lifes.
I’m also pro-life as in “create the circumstances that make as few people as possible face that choice.” Create circumstances where being a single parent is not the first ranking cause of being or becoming poor. Create support networks. Create a suitable safety net. Ensure proper childcare options. Make sure that mothers don’t die during childbirth from entirely preventable causes. If you want to be pro-life in a real sense of the word, care about what happens after the baby is born.
I'm genuinely curious, so please don't take this as an attack. It sounds like (and please correct me if I'm mistaken here) that you're against abortion essentially because they don't affect you or isn't something you would choose to do. Is that accurate?
I'm curious what makes you against abortion, then? Most people who are against abortion don't want anyone to have them (with certain exceptions) because it's effectively taking a life. But that's obviously not your reason, and I'm must confess I'm struggling to come up with a scenario wherein you can be against abortions, but think they're okay for other folks. That doesn't sound like against it to my ears, because you are supporting it in general (i.e. you wouldn't vote to make them illegal). And supporting abortion would make you pro-abortion.
Again, not trying to attack or belittle or anything like that, I'm absolutely, genuinely curious.
I, personally, would not choose an abortion. But I’m male and well enough off with a sufficiently good support network by friends and family so that I’m fairly confident I could make a good living even as a single parent. We do have a 2yo kid, so I have a rough idea of how much work even a single one can be :)
I wish that no abortions were necessary. It’s an ordeal. A human in the making doesn’t get to live. (I consciously avoid “killed”, I don’t consider 8 week old embryos living beings). In that sense I’m against abortions. I wish we wouldn’t need them. For the record: I’m not religious.
However, other people’s circumstances differ. A woman has to actually carry the child to term. Pregnancy is a major health risk. Kids rate high as risk factor for poverty. Men tend to leave families and leave the kid behind. They might not feel ready for a kid yet. I value their bodily autonomy higher than my limited personal view on the matter. I can’t possibly enforce my choice on them.
I’m pro reducing abortions. I’m against banning them. It’s their choice to make and I’ve know people go through that and I’ve never felt like it was an easy choice to them. I consider myself lucky that I was never forced to make that decision.
The only way out of that dilemma is to help people not end up facing that choice (sex education, easy access to birth control, ...) and to make it easier for people to decide against abortions (health care, child support, ...) Reduce total harm inflicted. I consider anyone calling himself pro-life without first tackling those issues to be a fake.
I’m also pro-life as in “create the circumstances that make as few people as possible face that choice.” Create circumstances where being a single parent is not the first ranking cause of being or becoming poor. Create support networks. Create a suitable safety net. Ensure proper childcare options. Make sure that mothers don’t die during childbirth from entirely preventable causes. If you want to be pro-life in a real sense of the word, care about what happens after the baby is born.