The ongoing possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court might reverse its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, and its recent 49th anniversary, are both reminders of how that 1973 decision guaranteeing women the right to a safe, legal abortion continues to impact the country.
The most recent Gallup poll on the issue reveals America is divided on whether to overturn Roe v. Wade: 58% say no, while 32% in favor of it. Thousands gathered recently in Washington, D.C. in the March For Life to support a reversal.
As a practicing Catholic, advanced practice nurse, mother and a female who believes in the sanctity of life as well as a woman’s right to control her own reproduction, my stance on abortion has swung from one end to the other over the years.
I remain pro-life — but I am also in favor of Roe v. Wade.
As a 12-year-old growing up in suburban Detroit, I wasn’t old enough to understand the controversy surrounding the Roe v. Wade decision, or what abortion was about. I recall pamphlets that circulated at our parish, with graphic color pictures of aborted fetuses that left me horrified and perplexed.
In college, I witnessed Roe v. Wade touted as a solution to the problem of abortions being performed in secret under dangerous conditions. Physicians advocated for legalized abortion after witnessing women arriving in emergency rooms hemorrhaging from botched abortions.
In a 1975 “60 Minutes” interview with Morley Safer, first lady Betty Ford praised the Supreme Court’s decision to “bring [abortion] out of the back woods and put it in the hospitals where it belongs.”
But statistics since then seem to validate concerns that abortion would be used as a form of birth control, fueling the backlash from anti-abortion groups. Guttmacher Institute statistics show a nearly 20% decrease in the number of abortions in this country between 2011 to 2017, and the number of abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 also fell by 20%.
Even so, that leaves hundreds of thousands of abortions performed every year.
Additionally, state laws allowing late-term abortions past the age of viability have further fueled attacks on Roe v Wade.
Fewer unplanned pregnancies
As an undergraduate nursing student in the 1980s, my professors convinced me that abortion was a necessary option to protect the well-being of adolescent girls. Taking away a woman’s right to a safe, legal abortion was unconscionable.
As a practicing Catholic and mother, I understand the Catholic Church has condemned abortion since the 4th century. Religious convictions aside, however, Roe v. Wade needs to stand.
But the number of unplanned, unwanted pregnancies needs to fall sharply as well
As history has shown us, abortions will be performed whether they are legal and safe, or not. The World Health Organization estimates that out of 55.7 million abortions performed worldwide each year between 2011 and 2014, 25 million, or 45%, were unsafe. Nearly 23,000 women die each year from complications of unsafe abortion, research shows. As many as seven million women a year survive, but with long-term damage or disease.
As a nurse, I’m charged to help those in need, alleviate suffering, and provide care to those in crisis. An unwanted pregnancy is a tragedy that may leave a woman or girl in a desperate situation.
Women must have reproductive autonomy and privacy. Attacks on women’s reproductive autonomy are a form of misogyny. Often attacks on abortion come from conservative political and religious factions that are against the advancement of women.
I would like to see abortion remain an option that is rarely used. Single-parent pregnancies have been de-stigmatized, so when possible, many can encourage women to carry their pregnancies to term and choose adoption.
It is necessary and ideal to strengthen social support systems for women and families too. Perhaps it is possible to limit abortion by individual actions rather than government interference.
The best possible outcomes come from these individual choices.
Cynthia Farina is an assistant professor in the Rush University Nurse Anesthesia Doctor of Nursing Practice Program. She has practiced as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist for over 25 years and is a Public Voices Fellow through The OpEd Project.
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