WP2 Blog 2: Body Autonomy and Paternalism

Access to abortion should be freed from governmental paternalistic control. I believe abortion should still exist as a last resort for unwillingly impregnated women in the form of contraception with an acknowledgment of the living quality of the child and the legitimate right of women’s bodily autonomy. Since women who decide to have an abortion are primarily in their 20s and are mainly under the federal poverty line, the probability of the children being given up for adoption is high. The practicality of adoption, such as the haven boxes in Indiana, as an alternative suggested for abortion is absurd socially and economically. From 1973 to 2011, legally reported abortion cases total an average of about 1.4 million yearly in the United States. As the adoption number totaled 57,900 in 2020, which is only around 4% of the abortion average, the pressure directed to the foster care facilities would be immense. Due to the increased need for Medicaid coverage, the anti-abortion bills raised the federal deficit by $225 million over 9 years, which serves to be problematic economically. This pressure on the economy sets the children's well-being(mentally and in life) at risk, exemplified by the baby mailbox at Jikei Hospital, which to me is immoral. 

One of the most significant weaknesses of my argument is about the morality of abortion, specifically, whether a fetus is a human with the right to life under the law. Both the pro-life and pro-choice side provides different explanations, which makes this absurd and unsettled. To me, since morality is subjective and absurdity about if a fetus is subjected to human rights remains, the decision of whether abortion is moral or not should be subjected to the individuals. Thus abortion should still remain a choice for individuals. Another weakness would be the negative social impact of undermining the responsibility to lives. However, I'm more concerned about the well-being of the children, with the reasons indicated lately, if the government lays paternalistic control on the accessibility to abortion. So I believe one should redirect such paternalistic controls to generalize education related to reproduction in political(natural human rights, women’s rights, medical rights, etc.), social(demographic trends & impact, responsibility in forming a family, body respect, and control, protection measures, basic respect to adopted/orphaned individuals, etc.) and economic(costs to form a family, costs to get an abortion, financial pressure on foster homes, etc.) perspectives before teenage, and only form laws protecting the abortion physicians while ensuring the accessibility, availability, and quality of abortion.



 

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