General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The "abortion should be rare" argument is thinly veiled paternalism. [View all]OwnedByCats
(805 posts)readily available. I'm just saying that preventing unwanted pregnancies as much as we can is best all around. We still need to have them available, without driving hundreds of miles or crossing State lines. No birth control is 100% and we can't prevent all rape and incest, plus the health of the mother or something that is wrong with the fetus - abortion will always be a needed procedure. Where I live it's not hard to get an abortion, but then I live in a blue state and there is a Planned Parenthood facility 25 miles from me. I know because I had one, granted it was 16 years ago but that PP is still located there. All they required of me was an exam with their gynecologist and I had to talk to one of their counsellors just to go over my options because they wanted me to be aware that abortion wasn't the only choice I had. They didn't push me in any one direction, it seemed like they very much wanted it to be my decision. I had to wait a couple weeks after that because I was too early. They didn't want to do it before 7 weeks. However, I know that is not the case for everyone.
I guess the reason I would rather prevent them in the first place is because in some ways I regret my decision because I've never been able to have kids since then and probably never will. I'm not blaming the procedure or think that just because I now have misgivings that I think it should be taken off the table. I still believe it's important to have it available.