I thought this was settled
With the next appointment to the Supreme Court, we are likely to turn back the clocks on a women’s right to choose. I find it hypocritical that a man who admittedly has had many relationships with women and fancies himself to be a playboy is against abortion. I find it ironic that a womanizer will be the person that takes away 45 years of progress. It is only when women gained control over their bodies through access to birth control and abortion, were they able to have true equality.
I cannot believe I am arguing these points in 2018, but I think the clump of cells that start to form into a fetus are part of a women’s body. The idea that life begins at conception has no merit. Our bodies wash way fertilized eggs that do not successfully implant all the time and approximately 10 to 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriages [see acog.org]. Until the fetus can live outside its mother’s body on its own, it is not a separate life.
Even now, the unintended pregnancy rate is 31.7 % and the unwanted pregnancy rate is 13.8%.[i] In contrast, only about 2% of the pregnancies are aborted [see CDC] But, having the option of abortion, as a last resort, is extremely important and ensures that no women is forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.
[i] Mosher WD, Jones J, Abma JC. Intended and unintended births in the United States: 1982–2010. National health statistics reports; no 55. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2012.