by Candice LeSueur
I am the fourth of six children in my family. We all joke about how my parents’ third child, the sister just older than me, was a fierce one. My mom thought she would be finished with having kids after her, but I’m so glad she decided to let me come and join the family, along with my two siblings after me.
Did you know that 38% of women who have had abortions say their reasoning was that they were done having children? That’s nearly 4 in 10 mothers. Who knew?
To state the obvious, abortion is a very touchy topic. Some feel it should be allowed because of those cases involving the critical health of the mother, rape, or incest. But according to the quantitative and qualitative research study done by Guttmacher Institute (https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/journals/3711005.pdf):
- A small proportion of women who have abortions do so because of health concerns or fetal anomalies.
- 1% indicated that they had been victims of rape.
- Less than half a percent said they became pregnant as a result of incest.
The large majority who choose termination do so in response to an unintended pregnancy.
The reasons most frequently cited were:
- Interference with a woman’s education, work or ability to care for dependents (74%)
- Could not afford a baby now (73%)
- Did not want to be a single mother or was having relationship problems (48%)
- Had completed her childbearing (38%)
- Not ready to have a child (32%)
- Did not want people to know they had sex or got pregnant (25%)
While I understand there are special cases where abortion just might need to happen, I hope we will also recognize that these cases are far and few. The vast majority’s reasons for abortion are not valid enough to take the life of an unborn child.
Some ask, “What about mother’s choice?”
But what about the choice of the child? Who is going to stand up for her?
I am so grateful to the mother who chose to continue carrying the child she unintentionally conceived. She could have easily aborted the baby, but instead she chose to give her child a chance at life. Through the adoption process, her biological son was placed in a home with two loving parents and five sisters who were absolutely thrilled to finally have a brother.
I was the fourth daughter of those five girls, and I couldn’t ever imagine my life without my family’s sixth child, my adopted younger brother. I will always admire this mother who chose life rather than an abortion.