The Difficulty of Choice

            A topic that is often hotly contested in political campaigns and in Planned Parenthood clinics across the country, abortion continues to be a significant issue for many women.  Often cast in a dark light, abortion is necessary in many situations, although it is certainly possible to find those who would always be willing to argue the opposite.  For this reason, I found the Allison Crews article the most interesting.  Growing up in a family that was extremely pro-life, Crews was immersed in pro-life literature and reasoning her whole life, yet had all of her previous assumptions called into question when she discovered she was pregnant during her sophomore year of high school.  Unlike the other stories we read this week, Crews’s particularly stood out to me because she had the unique perspective of going from extremely pro-life to a proud advocate of pro-choice.  Although she ended up having her child, she encountered many problems along the way, from the extreme indecision concerning an abortion to the prospect of putting her child up for adoption with a family she didn’t know or fully understand.  However, even though she ended up turning to her mother for counseling along the way, her experience turned her into a pro-choice advocate because she was so happy with her choice.  If she was so happy with her choice, then it would make sense for others to be happy with their choices, and it shouldn’t be anyone’s specific mandate to make that call.  It should be an individual choice.

            The other article that stood out to me was the Eleanor Cooney reading, but for an entirely different reason.  The circumstances that she encountered while trying to get an abortion are completely unacceptable.  The practice of getting an abortion in those days was considered a task to be addressed behind closed, locked doors, in complete secrecy.  Very few “doctors” would attempt an abortion, and those who did only would do the easiest ones, in hopes that there would be no complications.  They charged money arbitrarily and would raise the price dramatically if there were a chance of it being a difficult procedure.  While I don’t know how much things have changed since the 1950s and 1960s, I would have to hope that conditions are significantly better, and that women can find a properly certified doctor to instill confidence and help comfort women through the decision.  The one thing that runs through each article is the difficulty of the choice, and it is important for women to be able to find support, regardless of the choice they make.