Compromise


Can compromise end rancor over abortion?

Akron Beacon Journal, Akron, Ohio, Friday, March 19, 1993

With all of the coverage on abortion, and now the recent shooting death of Dr. David Gunn in Florida, one thing strikes me as the point that both women's rights groups and pro-life groups have in common:

Neither side will voluntarily take an unbiased look at its opponent's point of view.

Anyone who takes one side over the other does not have the ability to make decisions on behalf of the women in this country or their unborn children.

As far as women's rights groups are concerned, I agree that women should be granted the freedom to decide whether to seek an abortion as a medical procedure performed on their own body to rid themselves of an unwanted pregnancy or whether to carry the pregnancy to term.

However, it takes two people to create a pregnancy, whether wanted or unwanted; and the child resulting from that pregnancy clearly is the merging of two sets of chromosomes belonging to two different people.

Therefore, the men involved should also be given the choice to take full custody of the child when it is born or to allow the woman to terminate the unwanted pregnancy.

Choice is definitely a good thing most of the time, but to take a look at the pro-life side of the issue, the women choosing abortion also had birth control and contraception as a choice. Most of the time, they also had the choice to have sex or not to have sex.

I agree with the women's rights groups who hold that all women should be allowed to choose what is done to their bodies and their unwanted pregnancies, especially in cases of incest and rape.

I also agree with the pro-life groups in that there are women who have sought abortion more than once, clearly as a method of birth control or a quick way to hide a boo-boo, the way a child would hide a broken cookie jar for fear of punishment.

This is so very wrong.

Women's rights activists and pro-lifers should try to see the other side of this touchy issue, to put themselves in their opponents' place and try to see all sides of this problem before more end up hurt.

In all real-life situations, compromise usually works best.



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