Journals of a 14 Year-Old: Abortion

During the first couple months of 2009, I started writing journals in attempt to express my thoughts in the moment. If I had a topic on my mind, I would write it down. If something had happened that day that I wanted to remember at a later time or share with people (via a social media website), I would write it down right in that exact moment or at the end of the day. Now that I'm a month away from my 21st birthday, it's entertaining to go back and re-read these journals to see what was happening in my life that I found so important to write down. Some of these journals I find entertaining to read because my views of certain topics haven't changed at all, and others because my views have changed completely. On January 5th, 2009, I jotted down a journal pertaining to abortion, which is, in 2016, a very heated and important topic these days. While I was reading the journal entry, I was surprised to see that my views have both changed and stayed the same. Crazy, right? Here's the entry:

Abortion, key word: abort. When I think of abortion, I think not of a parent leaving their child, but the child leaving the world. To me, abortion isn't right. Why? Well, I consider it as murder. You're killing something that can't protect itself. If you don't want the child, don't get pregnant! I'm against abortion almost 100%. The only thing that is keeping me from being against it 100% is that, if you think that the child wouldn't be able to live in the conditions that you're living, then it's okay. The child would probably be better off dead, but at least give it a chance to experience life. At least give it a chance to be able to see, hear, and possibly move, if strong enough. Or, if you think the child wouldn't be able to live well in the conditions of your living, then put it up for adoption. Then, it could actually live, hopefully, a full life. Like I said earlier, if you don't want the child, please don't get pregnant.

So now, if you're still interested, I'm going to analyse this entry and compare it to the views that I now hold.

What's the same: Yes, I do agree that abortion is wrong; it is, in essence, murder of another human being. Also, if a person doesn't want a child, then they perhaps should take better actions to ensure a pregnancy does not happen. I also agree with my 14 year-old self that if a person doesn't a child after birthing them, that person should put the child up for adoption. However, evading pregnancy all together would be the ideal choice, as adoption can be a long, difficult time for a child... we've all seen  Annie!

What's different: Instead of saying that if a child were not able to live in the conditions in which their parent(s) are living, I believe it to be more suitable to say that if a child's life is in danger during the pregnancy, or if the parent is damaging the child during the pregnancy, ie. birth defects solely due to the parent's irresponsibility, then yes, abortion may be a good choice. Also, if the parent's life is in danger due to the pregnancy, abortion may also be a viable choice, especially considering that, if the parent's life is in danger, perhaps the child's life would also be in danger during the pregnancy or, because the parent's body is unable to carry the baby to term, it could cause birth defects. Only then, and only then, do I find abortion even remotely viable. If a parent simply does not want to raise the child, or does not believe that they will be able to afford raising the child, then no, abortion is not a viable choice. If anything, I believe a parent who does not want the child, and is in perfect health to birth the child, should either put the child up for adoption or see if anyone in their family or even their friends would want to raise the child, even if that includes the father of the child who the parent carrying the child is no longer in a relationship with (we all know it happens).

If you've made it this far, thank you very much for reading! This blog is mainly just something for me to express my mind and write down my thoughts, much like my journal when I was 14. I will continue to read through my old journals and, if I find entries that I would like to make an analysis of, I'll post them when I get the chance! Again, thank you for reading!