The abortion debate is flawed. Ironically, there are sincere people on both sides who, armed with clear issues, could join together and accomplish some good. Roe v Wade chose the first trimester as a point of evolution of the fetus when it has not reached the status of a human with the accompanying protection of law. You can read another article I wrote about issues surrounding Roe v Wade here. This discretion diminishes as the fetus matures until it has unbridled human rights. This opinion is often misquoted by many.

For a portion of a pregnancy the fetus only survives as a part of the woman’s body. Many argue that the woman has the discretion of how her body is used. Obviously extreme circumstances will exist in some pregnancies that would be hard to cover with a singular rule. Should a fourteen-year-old rape victim really have to go to prison if she aborts early in her pregnancy?  

The debate ebbs on concerning when there is a human life that should be protected. It has been argued that abstinence itself kills life forms that otherwise would become a human. There is a history of huge families following that religious dictate. Ironically, the burden of feeding such a large group of children will foreseeably visit death on many via starvation, disease etc. The arguments ebb through the issues of birth control. 

The practical legal issues are for the poor. After all, rich people can fly to Europe for an abortion or hire folks to raise children for them.

Sincere, logical people on both sides should join together in an effort to assist women and girls who give birth to have a chance at a successful life for themselves and their babies. Education, food, housing, medical care provided to the mother and child will not only help them but will help erase the black hole some are born into. It will provide a reasonable option for those who wish to carry the joining of a sperm and egg into childhood. The cost of this will not only be the right thing to do but would come back to society many fold by moving the mother and child out of disparate poverty and unemployability. Providing education and birth control for all will help keep the legal issue of abortion from ever occurring.

Ironically, this effort would be less expensive and more effective at deterrence than putting the mother (and doctor) in prison. It would allow for the joining of both sides at the highest moral, political and economic level possible. Imagine what could be done if all of the time, money and energy used to fight each other over this issue was spent providing an environment in which this conflict faded into a beautiful joining together, resolving the underlying causes.