I tried, I really did try, to find another topic to write about this week. Nothing stood out as something that would be impactful enough for me to not write about abortion. Long story short, I mentioned it in class, but I don’t like talking about abortion much because hi, hello, I am produce of a failed abortion.
Even that sentence felt incredibly dehumanizing and here I am, writing it about myself. The thing is, I am pro-choice, 100%. I believe strongly that every woman should be able to make the decision based on her own life and her own circumstances. But when I really sit down to think about it. I was a hairline from just… not existing. Calling myself “produce” of a failed abortion sounds pretty bad, but in reality, isn’t that exactly what they call aborted fetal tissue? Byproduct? It’s not easy for an abortion to fail, which makes me feel important, I guess. There had to have been some sort of greater hand in this, but that’s not up for me to determine.
The thing with abortion is… most women who get abortions either accidentally got pregnant, lack a supportive partner, or got pregnant through sexual assault. While I don’t believe that any of these things just excuse the fact that a potential mother is just removing her potential baby, I do strongly believe that this is a decision that must be made on a case by case basis. Each woman must make her own decision for her own life. In a way, I am proud of my mom for making the decision to attempt to abort me. My dad was not in the picture at the time (they were seperated and got back together after the abortion didn’t work and my dad and I have a great relationship and thanks to me we also have my little sister), and my mom made the decision that she thought would be best for her.
If I was in the position where I was unexpectedly pregnant, I can’t say I know what I would do. I would like to say that I wouldn’t get an abortion. Mainly because I know what it feels like to grow up knowing that your mother tried to have an abortion. I did not feel wanted by my mother, since I knew that she blatantly tried to remove my fetus from her uterus. But I am stubborn, and here I am anyway. While I know that failed abortions are extremely rare, and I am an anomaly, I would never want to potentially put my child through the amount of rejection and emotional turmoil that I experienced being a product of a failed abortion.
I will leave you with one question. Rhetorical, of course. If the product of a failed abortion is a live baby… What is the product of an effective abortion?
Hannah Sutton's Blog 