This is the only way to stop abortion

I understand the aversion to abortion. While I don’t think of it as murder (if it were murder, then it would not be acceptable to allow it in cases of rape or incest), I would hope that a pregnant woman would not consider it necessary. However, criminalizing abortions does not stop abortions; it merely makes them illegal.

If we criminalize abortion, a desperate woman will seek one anyway. If she has money, she will go to a country where it’s legal. Canada is a likely place. If she is poor, she will either try home “remedies” or resort to an illegal abortionist. If she doesn’t succeed the first time, and survives the attempt, she’ll probably try again. Not only is she likely to achieve an abortion, but she’s likely to permanently damage or kill herself.

If we really want to reduce abortions, we need to make sure that our children are taught about contraception, and we should make access to contraceptives easy and cheap.

I’m not saying that we can’t or even shouldn’t emphasize refraining from sex until marriage, but only by ensuring that all know about effective birth control and all are able access it will we be able to effectively reduce abortion.

This story was originally published December 6, 2017 at 2:12 PM with the headline "This is the only way to stop abortion."