Letter: Response to “Safe abortions save lives”
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February 4, 2018
In the recent Iowa State Daily editorial “Safe abortions save lives,” it was argued that Roe v. Wade simply affirmed historical precedent. Yet, we must realize that this justification based on precedent is inadequate. Precedent is an unreliable judge of just and moral laws.
Men have historically enacted racist and discriminatory laws that we now reject. Should those laws be re-enacted on the basis of precedent? Certainly not. Therefore, precedent does not decide the justice or morality of a law.
The argument was also given that “abortion choice” and affordable contraceptives reduce infant mortality, increase child health and improve adulthood success.
Yet the “abortion choice” assumes that the unborn are not human lives or at least not valuable human lives. Biology and ethical standards do not support this assumption. Biology unequivocally states that a new human life begins at conception. Ethically, we know that age, size, appearance and ability are all wretched measures of human value. Each human life is intrinsically valuable.
Therefore, I argue that no child or infant lives are saved by killing valuable, new human lives in the womb by abortion. Likewise, certain contraceptives can act abortively by preventing implantation after conception. Whether by abortion or abortifacient contraceptives, ending a human life early simply increases mortality to 100 percent.
I also wish to address the argument that “abortion choice” and affordable contraceptives save lives of low income women who “face higher rates of childbirth mortality.” We should not overlook the health effects of abortion and contraceptives themselves.
Abortion disrupts the normal biological function of a woman’s body, causing her physical and emotional trauma. This trauma can lead to fatality, impact mental health, and increase risk of dangerous ectopic pregnancies. By definition, contraceptives also upset normal, biological function. IUDs are another risk factor for ectopic pregnancies.
Further, hormonal contraceptives are linked to increased incidence of breast cancer, which is the most common cancer among women and second only to lung cancer in female fatalities.
To conclude, I and other pro-life, anti-abortionists do not believe that “safe abortions save lives.”
