Abortion is Legal Because So Many Men Are Lying, Thoughtless, Irresponsible Dicks.

[JDPriestly]

59. K&R. But the OP does not begin to deal with the huge problem of unwanted or unhealthy

pregnancies. It isn't just a matter of raising a child alone as a woman whose potential earnings are lower than a man's in the best of situations and whose ability to earn a living is further lowered as a single mother.

There are health problems involved in pregnancy. A woman's life is placed in jeopardy during and after pregnancy. And then there is the added problem that some women face of bringing a disabled child into the world, a child that the woman may or may not be able to care for because of the child's disability from birth.

A friend of mine had a child with spina bifida. She loved her child although it remained virtually an infant for a number of years -- the length of the child's life. But it was very difficult. Not all women, not all families can deal with an infant who remains helpless year after year. Others find great joy in caring for that child. Whether the parent is up to that task should be the parent's decision.

Of course, we could as a society agree to work together to support parents, single mothers, mothers whose children are disabled. But so far, in America, we have not found that political resolve. Wealthy people may be able to afford a couple of nannies for their kids, but a poor mother with a fatherless child or with a very disabled child will probably have no help at all and be expected to work on top of it.

So the problem of choice and abortion is very complicated. The decision has to be left up to the mother. If we did not have the right to choose, we would have illegal abortion. And that is worse than what we have now.