argument top image

Should abortion be legal?
Back to question

Many women regret abortions

It is very common for women to express sentiments of regret after getting an abortion. On the other hand, women never express regret for choosing to have a child.
Health Warning Misleading

Context

Many women who go through abortions, particularly those that go through them at a young age, later express severe regret over the decisions they made.

The Argument

Women frequently cite feelings of regret and suffer extensive psychological trauma over their decision to abort a child. On the other hand, very few women who go through with a pregnancy ever express feelings of regret after giving birth to the child. Quite the opposite, in most cases they feel relief that they never aborted the child.

Counter arguments

If you actually look at the numbers, rather than anecdotal evidence, you see a clearer picture. The overwhelming majority of women who have an abortion do not regret it later in life. A recent poll found 95% of women do not regret their decision. [1] Even if they did, it is not sufficient criteria to outlaw the practice entirely. Many people regret taking up smoking or dropping out of university, but neither of these are prohibited.

Proponents

Premises

[P1] Many women later go on to regret abortions and wish they had kept the baby. [P2] To protect women from this regret, abortions should not be legal.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The majority of women actually do not regret their decision, many actually express relief. [Rejecting P2] Even if they did, mothers expressing feelings of remorse is not sufficient to outlaw something.

References

  1. http://time.com/3956781/women-abortion-regret-reproductive-health/
This page was last edited on Wednesday, 5 Feb 2020 at 11:43 UTC

Explore related arguments