{"id":35641,"date":"2022-05-07T00:01:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-07T07:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=35641"},"modified":"2026-06-06T09:13:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T09:13:38","slug":"the-abortion-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/the-abortion-wars\/","title":{"rendered":"The Abortion Wars: Forcing a Woman to Continue a Pregnancy Is a Form of Assault"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"the-abortion-wars<\/a>
Photo by Jon Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’d rather not be writing this today. I’d rather not leap into the abortion wars with yet another — angry — opinion piece.<\/p>\n

The more we argue the contentious social issues of the day (same sex marriage, gun safety, race) the more folks on both sides of the culture wars feel they need to dig in, double down, and throw verbal spit wads at each other. So — I’d rather not get swept up in the arguments.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the abortion issue, however, I get adamant. I get noisy.<\/p>\n

That’s because I absolutely, unequivocally support a woman’s right to control what goes on in her body.<\/p>\n

Forced to Remain Pregnant<\/strong><\/h5>\n

As I see it, denying a woman a safe and legal abortion is tantamount to forcing her to be pregnant<\/em> against her will — which makes that the act of denying her an abortion is a form of assault.<\/p>\n

I’ll say it again.<\/p>\n

Requiring a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term is taking control of her body — by force. It is an assault on her agency as a person, as a human being. It is, quite literally, an assault on her body.<\/p>\n

The Abortion Wars<\/strong><\/h5>\n

I’m a knee jerk moderate on most issues. I can see, for example, why it might be unfair for a person born with the long bones and heavy muscles of a male to compete against people born with the lighter bones and musculature of a female. Might! But I can also see why a person who deeply believes themself to be a woman would want to be accepted as a woman.<\/p>\n

I know people who like to hunt and might feel safer with a rifle or a handgun in the house. I’m good with that. But an AK-47?<\/p>\n

I think affirmative action is a great way for colleges and universities to increase diversity on their campuses. But I worry that quotas are subject to abuse. And they’re probably unconstitutional. (If that word constitutional means anything anymore.)<\/p>\n

But when it comes to the abortion wars, I am inflexible. A woman has an absolute right to terminate a pregnancy for any reason (Until late in the pregnancy, that is, when the fetus is likely to be viable, and arguably has rights of its own).<\/p>\n

Chicken Fetus? Or Human?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

When does a human fetus become a human being?<\/p>\n

In my embryology class at the University of Michigan some years ago, we compared chicken fetuses, pig fetuses and human fetuses — they all looked pretty much alike for most of their gestations. Which squirmy worm was the human fetus and which the chicken? It was nearly impossible to tell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When, then, does the chicken end and the human begin? I don’t know.<\/p>\n

Pro-Life and<\/em> Pro-Choice<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The truth is, I’m both pro-life and pro-choice.<\/p>\n

Jon and I adopted our oldest child. And I’m going to publicly thank his birth mother one more time, right now, for making the choice — young and frightened as she was — to give birth to that little boy and put him in my arms one snowy January day. What a gift.<\/p>\n

\"the-abortion-wars<\/a>
Jon and I as a childless couple, hoping for a baby to adopt. Barbara Newhall photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I wish more women who find themselves with an unwanted pregnancy would consider adoption. Thousands of childless people<\/a> all over the U.S. are yearning for the chance to adopt a baby. Life is a gift a woman can give — to that child and to those would-be parents.<\/p>\n

Yet — when it comes to the politics of the thing, I am fiercely pro-choice. A woman, a couple, should not be forced to give birth to and care for an unplanned child.<\/p>\n

But more to the point, for me, no woman should have to be<\/em> pregnant. No woman should have to endure being<\/em> pregnant — against her will.<\/p>\n

Pregnancy is disruptive to a woman’s body. Pregnancy and childbirth involve risks. A woman is more likely to die<\/a> giving birth than she is to die from a safe, legal abortion.<\/p>\n

And so, I’ll say it one more time: forcing a woman to continue a pregnancy is a form of assault.<\/p>\n

More on the abortion question at “Unmarried and Pregnant in Mid-Century America.”<\/a>\u00a0 Also,\u00a0 here’s a piece noting that, in the past, the pro-life movement did not seek to prosecute a woman who undergoes an abortion: “Donald Trump Outs the Elephant in the Pro-Life Room.”<\/a>\u00a0 Today, as politicians who claim to be pro-life become more and more fervid, that genteel tradition might be on its way out.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"the-abortion-wars<\/a><\/p>\n

Requiring a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term is an assault on her agency as a person. It’s also literally an assault on her body.\u00a0 Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49308,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,30],"tags":[601,2594,1548,34,56,1677,1678,2109],"class_list":["post-35641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-case-of-the-human-condition","category-my-changing-family","tag-abortion","tag-abortion-wars","tag-adoption","tag-dont-miss","tag-peter","tag-pro-choice","tag-pro-life","tag-roe-v-wade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35641"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49311,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35641\/revisions\/49311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}