Washington Examiner goes off the deep end when it comes to abortion

[ShazzieB]

32. What I'd like know is...

Where did these numbers come from?

One in every 5 men may be silently suffering in the aftermath of a partner’s abortion

More than half of men who have been affected by abortion seek psychological support

Oh, wait, I see they come "a study from the nonpartisan organization Support After Abortion." I googled and found their site. There are all sorts of numbers there (including, I assume these, although I didn't exactly comb through the site looking for them), and the only mention of a source was "our research shows."

On the "about" page their purpose becomes clear. This page is full of "statements" about the supposed "impact" of abortion on those "affected" by it, together with lots of unsourced "statistics" about how many people seek "help" to deal with this "impact."

It's clear to me that the agenda of this "organization" is to promote the idea that abortion is always a horrendous experience for everyone involved, so much so that specialized help is needed. This idea of abortion always leaving people (especially women) emotional wrecks is a very popular trope in the 4forced birth community. The "crisis pregnancy centers" are known for including this among the "risks" of abortion, telling women that if they have an abortion, they will almost suffer from an (imaginary) condition called post abortion syndrome.

I wonder if they have been unable to convince enough women to stay pregnant using this argument and are now trying to do it by naming womenⁿ feel guilty about how their partner will supposedly be affected? It would not surprise me in the least.

Note: I am sure there are women who have conflicted feelings about having an abortion, and women who have strong misgivings about it can benefit from getting some counseling beforehand to sort out their feelings and consider different alternatives if they are genuinely uncomfortable going through with an abortion. What they don't need is to be hit with a pack of lies about nonexistent "dangers." Those who have conflicted feelings after having an abortion can see the therapist of their choice for help. The idea that highly specialized help is always needed is simply false.

As for the men, if a man doesn't get a say in an abortion decision, it's because it wasn't necessary or in some cases, because it was possibly even dangerous to involve them. In the latter case, an abusive male partner often sees a pregnancy as an opportunity to increase the amount of power he has in the relationship and exert even more control over the woman and thwart any attempt on her part to get out. Women in abusive relationships NEED to be able to make these decisions on their own, without the partner’s knowledge if need be.

Aside from that, all women need to be able to make these decisions without anyone else's "permission," because it's the woman's body, health, and even life that are on the line. Any other way of handling things would lead to infantilizing women and denying their bodily autonomy.

Men who are uncomfortable with this should see it as motivation to be extremely responsible about using birth control. Men need to realize that having sex with a woman does not come with the right to control her reproductive decisions, even if he's in a committed relationship with her, and especially if a pregnancy results from a casual fling or even a *gasp* one night stand.

There's more I could say, but this is already too long, and I need to wrap it up. I'll just close by saying to hell with anyone peddling scare stories about imaginary risks to try to convince women they should never have an abortion. Pregnant people are capable of making their own decisions and should be allowed to do without outside pressure from anti-choicers. Trust women!